They who would rival the Otome
by Lyrium eidolon
Summary: AU. The Otome were not the only super soldiers on their planet. There were others, created by the hands of both Terran and Protoss as they struggle to hold off the Zerg. These are their stories.
1. Chapter 1: Takumi's rise

**Author's**** note:** This story, involving the worlds of Mai Otome and Starcraft 2 also takes a lot of inspiration from Devil May Cry, yet that world is not involved in this story.

**Second**** note:** As of July 2014, this story has undergone some revision. As such, there has been some adjustment to the content of each chapter. As for new readers, I hope you enjoy this story.

**Disclaimer:** The following is a non-profit fan-based piece of fiction. Mai HiME/Mai Otome was created by Sunrise and Starcraft by Blizzard Entertainment.

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><p><span>Chapter 1:<span> Takumi's rise

The War of the Twelve Kingdoms, at least 300 years ago, devastated the world of Earl. Much of the planet was now a lifeless desert, while contact has been lost with one side of the planet entirely: That half of the world has become known as the Dead Zone, while the half of the planet that has been known to have sentient life was nearly completely destroyed.

The far-eastern nation of Zipang wasn't spared its wrath: nearly all of its ten provinces had suffered serious damage. The worst hit was the western area now known as Tsuchi no kuni, which was turned into a series of red badlands. The other provinces were lucky in that they only suffered a large amount of mass-destruction, and only an island east of the mainland, Mizu no kuni, escaped completely unscathed.

The shogun of Zipang, then Shogun Kaneshiro Hideki no Kami Kyuseishu, under the advice of the northern Hikari no Kuni, southern Yami no Kuni and southeastern Kaze no Kuni daimyo, cut all ties to the destroyed desert in order to rebuild properly. All trade to the Western nations stopped, and while they fought another pointless war and again tried to destroy each other, Zipang kept to itself and prospered for it.

That history, taught to all of Zipang's children, was what the older sister of Tokiha Takumi no Kasai would repeat whenever he asked why there was no trade with the outside nations. They were two siblings, born into the Kasai no Kuni province, with their father being Shogun Tokiha Hinamoto no Kami Tennohi. All people of Zipang had a strong naming tradition of family name, given name and birth province name, unless that person was the Shogun. In that case, they instead took on the name of the Imperial Capitol Province of Kami no kuni, and on crowning received a title that reflected their deeds up to that point. In Hinamoto's case, his title was 'Heaven's Flame'.

Takumi's father was situated in the Kami no Kuni province, leaving him and his sister to be raised in Kasai no Kuni by their mother. After his seventh birthday, his father had given to him as a present a bodyguard; Shadow Warrior Okuzaki Akira no Kaminari, and moved him into a room at the Imperial Palace in the Capitol. This was also around the time that his older sister Mai had left for the Western countries to become an Otome super-soldier. Initially, the relationship between Akira and Takumi was rough, as she wanted him to stay at his home so she could more easily keep an eye on him, due to the congenital stomach disease that had plagued him all of his life. Yet Takumi, knowing of his status as the son of the shogun and future heir to Zipang (as Hinamoto had personally named him his successor), traveled to several towns and villages of not only Kasai no Kuni, but the other provinces as well, wanting to get close to the people he would one day serve. These motivations led to him trying to help many of the communities that he found, and even the poorer areas and slums were graced by his presence. Because of his actions, he found himself repeatedly scolded by Akira for being _too_ nice to people, a complaint shared by his sister in the past.

Those good days came to an end with the closing of that year, when strange, celestial beings landed on the fields of the northern Hikari no Kuni province. These beings came in large, golden, airborne warships, and almost immediately, a bloody war had started. The Steel Warriors, wielding long katana swords, rifles resembling the old Earth tanegashima model, and wearing ornate armor, were among the first to fight. Against this new foe, they found themselves hard-pressed to stand against these golden-armored beings who could not only create blades out of energy, but also fire blasts of energy and deflect their shots off of some invisible shielding.

Within days, Hikari no Kuni fell, and any who did not surrender to the invaders were annihilated. Those who surrendered had their livelihoods preserved, as these golden creatures were supposedly on a mission of vital importance. The fall of Hikari no Kuni put Kasai no Kuni to the south and the mostly desolate Kori no Kuni to the west, on the northwestern Zipang border, at risk, and with one of four major food producers (this one mainly of grain and other crops) lost, fears of the nation succumbing to starvation were born. The Steel Warriors had also lost one of their four dojos, with that one being one where they turned out unparalleled rifle users. The next week also saw the surrender of the few villages who lived in the region of the almost completely mountainous, frigid Kori no Kuni, which allowed for an invasion into Zipang's Western Border Province, Tsuchi no Kuni, the second of the major food producing provinces.

The Zipang Imperial Army found itself hard-pressed to hold onto the two provinces under siege. Although it had access to large walking tanks dubbed 'Sasori' (or Scorpion) due to the main gun mount on the rear of the chassis with two machine guns on the front (in a manner similar to claws), and heavy armor in general, as well as Armored Personnel Carrier Walkers with four sidearm slots that could either be fitted with anti-infantry, anti-tank or light artillery weapons, dubbed Tayona Ken (diverse sword) walkers, the resources of the invaders appeared limitless. They could field golden, four-legged giants that shot orange lasers at anything in front of them, four-legged walkers with shields even more powerful than ordinary shields judging by how artillery shells couldn't outright destroy them, and then the aircraft came into the picture: there were golden fliers that could abduct anything with some sort of light, giant golden battleships that summoned smaller fliers from within to shoot at targets, and golden ships which fired blue beams of light that slowly disintegrated their targets.

The next year had come, and although the Zipang Imperial Army fought magnificently, with the Shadow Warriors playing an increasingly important role in infiltration and sabotage, the enemy had captured Tsuchi no Kuni, further tightening the noose around the nation's neck. With that capture, vast resource nodes and another Steel Warrior dojo were lost, and with the latter, access to the physically strongest of the Steel Warriors. A second food supplier, this one of cattle farms that provided the country with meat, was also lost with the province. This enemy was also nearing victory in Kasai no Kuni, which if captured, stripped Zipang of one of its main military provinces, as well as the combat-oriented Steel Warrior dojo, and put the Capitol in Kami no Kuni province, to the south, in danger. Hinamoto was also losing support, as it became public knowledge that he was repeatedly approached by the commander of the invaders asking for a peaceful resolution. His insistence on continued warfare to 'maintain independence' didn't sit well with most of the people, many of whom just wanted the bloodshed to end. Since by then the invaders controlled half of Zipang's food production, people also wanted an end to the impending starvation.

Takumi and Akira, who were talking to people on the southern border of Kasai no Kuni, learned that there was a likely revolt brewing among all ten provinces of Zipang, and Hinamoto would have to abdicate and hand over the crown to his son to prevent another war. That day, the invaders surrounded him and brought him to their leader, one Executor Urun. That was when they first learned of the identity of their captors as the Protoss, and why they were on the planet in the first place: there was another race of aliens brewing in the area known as the Dead Zone, the half of the planet which had lost all contact and considered unmapped, on which the nation of Zipang bordered.

These other aliens, the Zerg, had seized that half of the planet and were advancing on the remaining half of Earl, so the Protoss fleet landed to deal with them. They found a problem in that Hinamoto wasn't willing to allow them the space they needed to construct a defense against this overwhelming foe, ordering strikes against him such that he was forced to retaliate.

However, with Takumi's help, when he was made Shogun in the next few days, the war could be over and the two forces could focus on the Zerg together and save what remained of Earl from becoming infested. Urun also noted that, while Zipang's weapons were quite ingenious, they alone wouldn't be enough to stem the Zerg tide; but to supplement those forces, the Protoss had extensive files of Terran technology that the humans could resurrect.

Takumi, knowing the discontent of the people at this war, agreed to this pact. During this time, he met one retainer of Hinamoto who was now pledging himself to Takumi due to his dissatisfaction with his father's policies, introducing himself as Adachi Iori no Hikari. The next few days came, and with that, Takumi's coronation. Inside the palace, he waited, as a holy priest approached him with the crown held between his two palms.

"Kneel, Tokiha Takumi no Kasai," he stated. Takumi knelt at the throne and closed his eyes, while the holy priest lowered the nation's crown onto his head. "Rise, Tokiha Takumi no Kami Tadayori, new Shogun of the Zipang Empire!"

The young Emperor rose, and stepped out onto a palace balcony overlooking a crowd of mixed Steel Warriors, Shadow Warriors, Zipang citizens from rich and poor, Imperial forces and Protoss ships.

"People of Zipang." Takumi began. "I come to you in the hopes that I can serve my country, that I can serve you. However, in order to progress into the future, we must first forsake all desire for conflict with those who would share our lives with us. To that end, I hereby declare that the war with the Protoss…"

Executor Urun was watching carefully

"…is over! We, however, face a new enemy that seeks to destroy all that we hold dear, to consume our nation. Now we must shake hands with our comrades and prepare ourselves for the nightmarish tsunami that threatens to engulf us. Yet rest assured, my people, I will lead us into battle against the darkness, and we will come out shining brighter than ever!"

Cheering erupted from crowds everywhere, and Takumi withdrew back inside the palace. There was work to be done: he had to think. Already the Protoss had provided Zipang with schematics for bunkers with automated automatic weapons named "Shrike turrets", Missile turrets that were modified with "hellstorm batteries" that launched smaller mini-missiles, and "Perdition turrets" which were apparently large flamethrowers on a chassis that could retract underground. Many of these new technologies were being housed in the province east of the Capitol and marking the east coast of Zipang: Tetsu no Kuni, which held the final Steel Warrior dojo where the best craftsmen among them were trained.

While considering this, Takumi had a brainstorm: A long wall of turrets made up of: 1 row of Perdition flamethrowers at the front, 1 row of bunkers with the turrets directly behind that, and behind _them_ would be missile turrets along with Protoss photon cannons. Takumi consulted Executor Urun on this idea, and he said it was definitely plausible, though costly. The Protoss would build the foundation of the wall, and then the turrets would be built, with the structure occupying all of the Zipang East Coast and extending to wall off the Dead Zone to other points of invasion.

However, this project would take up quite some time, as although Urun could use Probes to materialize the Wall structure in a week (and get it to cover the whole Dead Zone border), the construction of the turrets throughout the Wall would take some more time. Of this time, they only had two months until the main Zerg force crashed onto Zipang. The secondary problem was that the one province split off from the mainland, Mizu no Kuni to the east of Tetsu no Kuni, was ahead of the Wall Structure location. It couldn't be built further into the Dead Zone, as the terrain was mostly ocean and wouldn't support the structure, making it inevitable that Zipang would also lose its third major food producer and be left with only Kaze no Kuni, the last major food hub which focused on fruit farming, under human control.

Takumi also started thinking about something else; if that Wall wasn't ready in time, they needed some way of holding back the Zerg. The Zipang Imperial Army, according to Executor Urun, wasn't sufficiently equipped or trained to fight them toe to toe despite aid from his forces and the new upgrades, so another plan had to be conceived. There wasn't any possibility of other nations helping, because Zipang had a history of self-isolation since the era of Shogun Kaneshiro that cut them off from the rest of the world, so who would believe a story about some savage alien race attacking Earl? Otome, the local supersoldiers trained at Garderobe Academy, were also out of the question for this reason, and Takumi was left without any idea to bolster his ranks for the fight against the Zerg…

Then it hit him. What if there was still some potential in humans that was yet undiscovered. First he ran the idea by Akira, she admitted that she, too, felt that there was something more inside her, something greater. Takumi's new retainer, Iori, felt likewise. It was as if there was something greater, some higher purpose, hidden inside their very core.

When Takumi consulted Executor Urun about this, he agreed, and he also agreed that the Protoss could possibly unlock it with their psionic technology, though the young Emperor requested that this remain a secret for the time being. The following day, Protoss High Templar took five volunteers to the hidden human city of Scion, found deep underneath one of Zipang's mountains in the Kori no Kuni province. These five volunteers were Takumi, his bodyguard Akira, his assistant Iori and two other people, one nobleman with several black dreadlocks named Hikaru, and one man in rags with shaggy black hair named Katsurou. In the meanwhile, everyone settled on Mizu no Kuni was ordered to evacuate to the mainland.

After two weeks of trying to unlock their "true self" with help from the High Templar, and also training, _they_ were ready. The people who lived in Scion were the first to see the new supersoldiers, and at first, they thought they were seeing was strange.

After being prompted to test his newfound power, Takumi gritted his teeth, and gripped his hands into fists. He started hissing in pain, through his clenched teeth, as his skin and hair quickly drained all of its color, and then he let out a scream as blue flames engulfed his body. After the next second, the flames disappeared, leaving him clad in blue pulpit robes instead of the garb of the Shogun. His skin and hair was now a pale white, with his eyes having turned from a light blue to a deep red color.

Akira stood forward next, also hissing in pain as purple lightning shot through her body. She felt her skin on her arms become scaly, and she also felt her back become jagged. It seemed like a second spine had appeared on her front, and from each segment, long blade-like spikes extended at 45 degrees to each of her sides, branching upwards. One such set of spikes was colored dark purple, and in some cases may have been confused for a top had it extended past the shoulders, such that 'shoulder blade' received new meaning. The rest of her skin blackened and gained a slight green tint, her head turned into more of a triangular shape, with two horns sprouting from the ends. Her eyes were now bright scarlet, and her teeth had transformed into deadly-looking canines as if she could bite effortlessly through flesh. Her dark green hair now lay hanging, unrestricted by a band she normally would have used, and every pointed part of her body sparked purple electricity

Iori followed Akira, and clenched his own fists. His skin, and entire outfit, had turned into a translucent material, after which a white mist burst out from his body. It wasn't clear where exactly he was, only indicated by where the mist was. That mist moved forward, levitating into the air, and formed into various shapes such as a sword, bow, spear and Shadow Warrior shuriken.

Hikaru stepped forward, and his entire body burst into blue flames. Those flames expanded into the shape of a sphere, at the center of which was a black skeletal figure. The sphere of blue flames hovered forward, and a bolt of blue lightning shot from the skeletal figure within towards a target dummy on site.

Katsurou's body also burst into flames that wrapped around his body to form a sphere, but they were a deep ruby-red color. Within the flames, the black figure looked instead like a suit of armor, with hands disconnected from the main body. Hovering forward, it raised one of its disembodied hands, and a second red fire sprouted from the hand's wrist, forming into a blade.

The fires then disappeared from Hikaru and Katsurou's bodies, revealing them in what they were originally dressed as and letting them fall to the ground. The mist around Iori vanished, and he had returned to having normal skin and clothes. Akira's new form lit up with purple electricity, but when it disappeared, her skin had returned to its normal, smooth feel, her torso exoskeleton vanished and her facial features also normalized. Takumi's body burst into blue flames, but when they vanished a second later, his clothes had returned to what he was wearing before his transformation, the color had returned to his skin and hair, and his eyes had reverted to their normal color.

"We have succeeded," Hikaru spoke, in a reverent tone.

"This, however, would not have been possible were it not for the deposits of the Amber in this place," Katsurou, also in a reverent tone, highlighted. "That crystal, born of an organic being, opened us up to our hidden aspects."

"And as of this moment, each of us is bound to our comrades, who also know of the awakening of the genes locked deep inside. Our Brotherhood will need proper title, however.

"Takumi no Kami-sama, considering our new bonds to each other and the role played by this biological amber crystal, I propose the name of the Brotherhood of the Amber-Inlaid Path.

After a nod from Akira and Iori, Takumi agreed to this christening. The inhabitants of Scion had, during the newly-christened Brotherhood's time there, found a way to 'farm' amber by using the wood resin from the trees and rapidly fossilizing it to create the amber. Some of this newly-formed amber was incorporated into a Protoss Pylon as the core crystal, with shockingly impressive results: there was either a tripled power output, or the pylons provided an extremely strong shielding to whatever they were powering. Scion had since begun manufacturing large quantities of amber to power such Amber Pylons so as to provide two rows of them for the as of yet incomplete Wall of Zipang to provide that strong shielding.

In addition, the time spent by Takumi and his company to unlock their inner selves was also spent by Zipang resurrecting the technology according to the blueprints provided by the Protoss. Almost all of the new manufacturing was taking place inside Tetsu no Kuni, and they were reaching many breakthroughs. Eventually, there were four days left until the Zerg force crashed onto Zipang, and the evacuations were almost complete. The Wall still needed more time to finish, and there was no guarantee that it would be complete before the Zerg arrived, so Takumi began deploying forces to the western coast of the now desolate Mizu no Kuni, forming a defensive position at that point, largely consisting of seven Sasori walker tanks and twenty five Tayona Ken walkers of diverse configurations, several manned Bunkers, a large number of new Missile Turrets, several new Siege Tanks, as well as some of the Protoss forces.

They were just able to complete the beachhead on the predicted day of the invasion, and by then, the various flying beasts that made up the Zerg Swarm were spotted on the horizon from Mizu no Kuni's east coast.

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><p><strong>End note:<strong> Executor Urun is not connected to Admiral Urun of Starcraft 2's mission "In Utter Darkness". I just needed a Protoss name.


	2. Chapter 2: Zipang's Zerg invasion

Chapter 2: Zipang's Zerg invasion

The Zerg were fast approaching. The size of the swarm was enormous; were it not for the warning of the Protoss, the Zerg would have had no trouble consuming everything. Even with that warning, it was obvious that without the Wall and its firepower, Zipang, as well as the rest of the world, was done for. The Wall, however, was still under construction, so the Swarm needed to be held back for long enough to allow the construction crews to finish their work. The Protoss made sure to supply information to all of the combatants on the different types of Zerg. They, along with the Zipang Imperial Army, brought all their forces to the island that would play host to this showdown, with the Brotherhood of Amber standing ahead of the rest of the army. The time was coming; the Zerg had almost reached Mizu no Kuni, the island province of Zipang that was ahead of the wall.

They soon landed. From the distance, the Brotherhood of Amber could see Zerg Overlords releasing what looked like Drones from their sacs. These Drones quickly deformed into strange cocoons or started looking for places to grow. Many more Overlords instead released Zerglings, Hydralisks and also the occasional Ultralisk, most of which seemed intent on protecting the Drones. However, the Zerglings and flyers continued to advance. This was it; the time for battle had come. Takumi's skin and hair drained its color, and he burst into blue flames to reappear in his blue robes. Akira grew her torso exoskeleton, black/green scales and monstrous teeth, her body sparking purple lightning. Iori's skin and outfit became a translucent white and shrouded itself in a white mist, Hikaru burst into the sphere of blue flames, while Katsurou burst into the pure red.

The five members of the newly-formed Brotherhood of Amber were standing ahead of the first of three lines of static defenses. Each line consisted of a barricade, each barricade featuring a mix of Protoss and newly-reconstructed Terran weapons: backed up by ground forces. The defense plan drawn up by general Akutagawa Yua featured infantry between the first and second lines of defense, be they Protoss Zealots, Stalkers Templar and the like, Zipang Steel or Shadow Warriors along with riflemen, or the new soldiers created by revived technology gifted by Urun such as Marines, Firebats, Marauders, Medics and Ghosts. Between the second and third row of static defenses were vehicles, with all of the Sasori and Tayona Ken walkers of Zipang, Sentries, Immortals and Colossi of the Protoss, and the Hellions, Goliaths and Siege Tanks created with Urun's blueprints. If ever enough of the defensive structures on each line was destroyed, each row of forces would try to get behind the next line and continue fighting from there. Behind the third layer of defenses was the main forward base, and if ever the third row of defenses became compromised, Protoss Phase Prisms, Zipang hover transports and newly-reconstructed Medivac dropships would fly in to pick up the ground forces fighting and evacuate. They needed to hold for long enough to allow the Wall time to complete.

The Sasori and Artillery-type Tayona Ken tanks began launching their explosive shells, bombarding the grounds on which the Zerg were running. Takumi raised his hands, and pointed his palms at the oncoming Swarm, thinking of the word 'Stop', and many of the oncoming Zerglings screeched to a halt, a number exploding moments later when artillery shells crashed close by. More Zerglings charged towards him, but again Takumi thought "Stay where you are!" and watched as the oncoming Swarm ceased its charge to become easy targets for explosive artillery.

In her new, dark green scaled form, Akira stood by him, ready to engage if Zerg got too close. Many times when she saw Zerg that were starting to near the edge of the bombardment zone, she pulled a scale out of her arm and threw it at the encroaching Zerg creature, with the scale sparking purple electricity and burying itself in the target like a bladed object. The scales slid effortlessly out of her arms, and every time she drew a scale, a new one regrew in its place, allowing her to constantly barrage the enemy with thrown shuriken-like scales.

Elsewhere, the mist form of Iori had formed some of the mist into a Zipang rifle. He aimed at each of the Zerg creatures' heads and pulled the trigger, shooting a projectile of mist right into the brains. He aimed, fired, aimed, fired, aimed, fired, as the mists obstructing him just kept shooting out bullets made out of fog. Although every Zerg hit by these bullets didn't have entry wounds on their skulls, they still slumped to the ground when shot.

Hikaru, in his giant blue flaming form, was firing lightning blasts at the charging Zerglings, and he had also created small blue lightning storms in the area in front of him that was being bombarded. His large red-spherical partner Katsurou was holding out his disembodied hands, watching as the Zerg in front of him started becoming disoriented and, subsequently, slower.

Above, in the sky, the Protoss Phoenixes, Void Rays and Carriers opened fire on the swarm of flying Zerg. The sky above Mizu no Kuni quickly became an exchange of blue blasts of energy, bone-like projectiles and corrosive acids. There were a number of times when flesh would explode in a red haze, but this was also accompanied by explosions of blue flame. Takumi noted that all five of the Brotherhood of Amber were managing to keep the majority of the ground-based Zerg inside the bombardment zone, but something was bothering him: considering the size of the Swarm, just how long could they keep that up. At least now, helped a great deal by the artillery, the ground forces were holding the line…

It was nothing short of a miracle that the sky was still visible. Something always exploded, whether in a blue ball of fire, or a red cloud of blood, and parts always fell to the ground afterward. On the ground, the artillery was still spitting bomb shells, with the most powerful being the nine Sasori walkers and the new Siege Tanks built on schematics provided by Urun. Despite the massive bombardment, the Zerg were slowly starting to gain ground. It wasn't only Zerglings trying to traverse the bombardment, but also Roaches and Hydralisks, which could take somewhat more fire.

Five giant worms also burst from the ground behind the first row of static defenses, vomiting out more Zerglings, Roaches and Hydralisks and forcing the infantry behind them into combat. The second row defenses had begun firing on these new invaders, but General Akutagawa requested that the Brotherhood of Amber move to deal with the new threat. Akira grabbed Takumi and jumped towards the first row of Missile Turrets, Bunkers with mounted turrets, Perdition flamethrower turrets and Protoss photon cannons. Some of the mists around where Iori was formed into white vaporous wings, and he launched towards the defenses, while Hikaru and Katsurou's energy forms levitated with great speed towards the new goal.

Takumi stood on top of one of the bunkers, looked towards one of the large Nydus Worm mouths with the Zerg around it, and spoke in his mind "Attack the Nydus Worm!" while holding his hands out towards the swarm around it. Zerglings turned around and started scratching and bashing into the Worm's carapace, Roaches started spitting acid onto it and Hydralisks shot spikes of bone at the target. Soon, with the claws, corrosive acids and spines digging into it, the Worm exploded and retreated back underground.

Akira, after putting her Shogun down, darted towards another Nydus Worm. Some Zerglings and Roaches blocked her path to the worm, and she was forced to jump away to avoid their claws. Sliding out some scales from her arms, she threw them at the Zerg, but felt that a large amount of energy was building up inside her as she did so. Looking for her original target as she was pursued by the Zerg, she saw that she was still some distance away from the Nydus Worm. The energy buildup continued as she struck the Zerg around her with electrified scales, but soon, she found that her entire body was sparking electricity. She saw the Nydus Worm, and before she knew it, she had transformed into a bolt of lightning and shot cleanly through the creature five times before striking the ground near the first row of defenses and reforming into her awakened body.

Iori's new mist-like wings allowed him to hover above the Zerg, although he found himself having to dodge Hydralisk spines while flying to his Nydus Worm. Once he was above the creature's eye, the mist wings dissolved and formed into a large white, fluffy-looking stake, with him on top of it. The stake shot down directly towards the creature-s eye and sank right through, with Iori soon landing in the same spot. Although there was no wound where the stake fell, the Nydus Worm still gave a dying roar and withdrew into the ground.

Hikaru charged to one of the remaining two Nydus Worms, and created an electrical storm around its body. He also fired blasts of lightning from his hands, in his blue-flaming body. Some Zerg also surrounded him, but out of thin air, Zerg appeared to defend him. He kept firing lightning blasts until the Worm collapsed, whereupon he focused his attention on the Zerg around him.

Katsurou had a more difficult time defeating his Nydus Worm, as he couldn't reach it without difficulty. He held his disembodied hands out and, one by one, Zerglings started attacking the Worm while he slashed his way through the swarm with red blades of energy connected to his wrist. He took over more and more Zerg, but he still couldn't bring the Worm down any faster. Eventually, the Zerg did damage their own Nydus Worm enough to kill it, but unlike Takumi, Katsurou could only focus on individual Zerg, giving the rest plenty of time to kill the renegades.

The front-line defenses were now firing on a much larger Zerg Swarm, ahead, with more and more Zerg coming through the bombardment by the Zipang artillery. Nine Nydus Worms burst up from the ground in front of the defenses, and spewed out more Zerg. The flamethrowers, gun turrets and Photon Cannons were all firing on the ground forces, but the Swarm only grew now, and the Zerg were starting to focus their attacks. Within minutes, five turrets were destroyed, and General Akutagawa ordered the bombardment to cease, and for everyone to pull back to the middle line of defense. The vehicles, save for the Protoss Colossi, retreated past the rear line of defense.

When the five Brothers of Amber retreated, they instead returned to the central base. Once there, Takumi's skin and hair regained its color and his clothes returned to normal, while Akira lost her scales and regained her human body. The mists around Iori dissolved, and his form became solid, while the blue and red spheres of energy disappeared around Hikaru and Katsurou respectively.

His stomach disease was starting to get painful now, so Takumi quickly swallowed the pills he needed, and asked for a report via intercom.

"Well, Takumi no Kami-sama," Akutagawa Yua spoke, "…the front-line defenses are still active, but are slowly being destroyed. The Zerg are focusing their efforts on destroying those turrets, but it is happening at a relatively slow pace. Those Amber Pylons you guys created are certainly helping with that shielding, but the defenses are still done for there."

"How is the Wall? How much longer do we need to fight?" Takumi continued.

"The Wall still needs a bit more time, maybe an hour, before it can be properly activated."

"Can we hold out for that time with what we have?"

"Probably not, but there are a few new toys being built in the Tetsu no Kuni Base. They should have the first couple of prototypes ready for deployment any minute now. I'm also getting some more Walkers lifted over. Though the number of missile turrets we have is helping our Protoss birds hold the line."

For fifteen minutes, the Brotherhood waited, but just after Takumi's stomach returned to normal at that time, news got out that the front-line defenses were destroyed. Once again, the color drained from Takumi's hair and skin, and his body burst into blue flames, leaving him with pale white skin and hair, red eyes and in blue pulpit robes. Akira's skin darkened, grew black/dark green scales and regrew her jagged, bladed frontal appearance, while her teeth reformed into their sharp rippers. Iori excreted mist from every pore of his body, which became white and translucent. Hikaru exploded in blue flames, forming his blue sphere of energy with his black body outline within, while Katsurou did likewise with his red sphere of energy, and the five of them moved to the second line of defense.

When they got there, the Zerg had already reached the turrets, but nine new ships came passing over ahead: the reconstructed Banshees, which released swarms of rockets that rammed straight into the beasts of the Swarm. There were a number of explosions, and lots of Zerg lay dead on the ground. General Akutagawa ordered bombardment of the area ahead of the second line of defense to begin, and other shells were soon blasting that area. The Swarm was still coming, and the Brotherhood began engaging from range, but as Takumi mentally commanded the Zerg to halt, they only slowed down. He repeatedly commanded the Zerg to halt, but it was only after a few tries that a small section of the Swarm stood still in the bombardment; the rest only slowed down. As time passed, the ground Zerg stopped slowing down altogether, as if there was something greater commanding them. To make matters worse, a large number of Ultralisks were stampeding towards the battle.

The Protoss Colossi that stayed behind were cutting into the Swarm, but nine Nydus Worms burst from the ground behind the second defensive line, forcing the Brotherhood to redirect their attention. One of the Worms exhumed two Ultralisks and a loathsome creature, as big as the two previous expulsions, but bipedal, and it had four tentacles protruding from its back as well as two massive clawed hands, and strangely for a Zerg, traces of Protoss such as bright blue veins, and blue eyes. Even its head was shaped strangely. The other eight Nydus Worms vomited out three Ultralisks each, and Akutagawa quickly ordered the Banshees to converge on the Worms.

Takumi quickly tried to get the Ultralisks to attack the new creature, but all that came out of it was that he heard raspy roars of what he could only assume was laughter. If that… thing… was controlling the Zerg then maybe that was why he couldn't take over easily. He concentrated hard, commanding only one of the two Ultralisks to attack the monstrosity, and he started to feel his head hurting. The blue-eyed Zerg abomination looked at him, and he could feel what control he was gaining slipping.

Akira, noticing the abomination as well, threw her electrified scale-shurikens at the creature, only to react with shock when they bounced off its hide. It strode forward towards Takumi, and Iori launched towards it with a white greatsword in his hand, but as soon as he got close, he was hammered down by one of its massive claws, his translucent white body slamming into the grass. The mist sword decomposed into normal mist, amd the abomination grabbed him in two of its four tentacles, crushing him. Akira turned into a bolt of lightning and shot through the base of the two tentacles holding him in the next second, before it could become fatal, but she reappeared on its head. With a flash of lightning, a kunai sparking purple electricity materialized in her hand and she tried to attack the creature's head, but again it just bounced off.

Hikaru was trying, along with Katsurou, to safeguard Takumi as he struggled, but the emergence of Ultralisks on both sides of the second defensive position caused things to become complicated. Hikaru was firing lightning blasts at the Ultralisks, which only seemed to be stunning them, while also creating lightning storms around the swarm of lesser Zerg stampeding towards the defenses. The Ultralisks still made it to the defensive line, and Hikaru and Katsurou were forced to get Takumi out of there as they were starting to destroy the defenses there as well. Before long, what Steel and Shadow Warriors remained were ordered to evacuate to beyond the third line of defense.

Takumi, while being taken away by Hikaru, had General Akutagawa request for Urun to send any Void Rays he could spare to help with the abomination. Akira and the badly injured Iori retreated behind the last line of defense as well. Sadly, Urun came with news that all air forces were in combat with the airborne Zerg, which were now hovering directly above the camp, so Akutagawa ordered the Siege Tanks and Tayona Ken walkers to concentrate fire on the Ultralisks, while the Sasori walkers focused fire on the abomination.

While trying to force the monstrosity to stop, Takumi saw a vision open up in his mind. The walls around him were all pulsating flesh, and on the other side of the chamber was the monstrosity. As it charged towards him, he yelled for it to stay away, yet a small blue fireball shot out from his mind and exploded on its carapace. It only slowed down, but soon the whole chamber was quaking. The monstrosity jumped, grabbed him with a tentacle and began constricting his body. Another plea for it to go away materialized as another blue fireball, but this time it hit as the room quaked again. Again, there was a loud rumble, accompanied by a cracking of bones, the pulsating of flesh, yet Takumi noticed that with these quakes, the monster seemed to be disoriented. Closing his eyes in the vision, he pictured three small fireballs revolving around one point. Three blue fireballs appeared in front of him and did exactly that, creating a ring of blue flames. This was it: a blue light appeared on Takumi's head, and also in his hands. His heart yearned to triumph over this thing and save his people.

"Kaen Kōgeki!" he shouted, bringing the blue lights together to form one light, and shooting it through the blue ring of fire. Right as it passed, the fire suddenly created a revolving inferno of blue fires from where the light had just passed: an ever-growing tornado of blue flames was shooting towards the dazed monster. The flames hit, and were incinerating the abomination in this flesh world.

Back in the battlefield, Takumi had his eyes closed, and he was sweating heavily. The abomination, flailing to attack, was cleaving away at the defenses with its claws when suddenly it stopped in its tracks. The large number of Ultralisks that had by then surrounded it began scything at its flesh, soon drawing blood. The onslaught against the monster continued, as arms fell off, liquids were strewn about the immediate area and eventually, the head was cleaved off its body. The Ultralisks then moved to stop the other Zerg, while Takumi opened his eyes and ordered the defenders to collect as many samples as possible from the monster. The final defense position's turrets started blowing up due to repeated attacks by Zerg, but crews did manage to collect the large majority of abomination parts from the battlefield.

Just as the collection crew returned to the main base, General Akutagawa ordered everyone to withdraw and prepare for evacuation: the Wall was complete. A number of transport ships descended: Medivacs picked up the new human forces and weapons, Zipang hover transports picked up the remaining Steel Warriors, Shadow Warriors, infantry, Sasori walker tanks and Tayona Ken walkers, along with the Brotherhood of Amber. Protoss Phase Prisms descended to pick up the Protoss forces remaining, and when all of the transports started flying away from the island, the final defensive line suffered a killing blow by the Zerg, which was now flooding into the base itself.

All of the air forces began their retreat to Zipang's mainland, closely dogged by Zerg flyers, but as soon as those Zerg came near to the Wall, innumerable missiles launched and several Photon Cannon blasts shot straight at them. The constant firing of missiles, mini-missiles, cannon blasts and gunfire, tore the Zerg in the sky to pieces of flesh and blood that would fall into the water. Many Zerg did return fire, but large amber-colored barriers blocked many of the attempts at retaliation, leaving the flyers powerless to avoid destruction.

All five of the Brotherhood had by then returned to their human forms, and Iori was the only one not watching the thunderous weapon-fire tear up the Zerg through a window as a medic was performing triage on his severely battered, almost broken body. Takumi couldn't help but feel sadness, as although it was a victory by the standards of what they set out to do, it still felt as if they had suffered a defeat.

"Takumi, are you okay?" Akira asked him.

"Sorry, Akira-kun," he started, "…I am just lost for words."

"In what way?"

"We have saved this world from the onslaught of the Zerg for now, but in the process, we have lost Mizu no Kuni."

"Sometimes you need to give something up to make something happen, Takumi. I agree that losing a source of food and a Shadow Warrior training ground sets us back, but you got everyone off the island before the shuriken hit the flesh, so don't beat yourself up about it."

"That's true, I guess. At least everyone escaped, although we may never be able to fish for a long time. I just hope she is okay."

"Who?"

"Funabashi-san."

"Funabashi Sanae-san, eh? Anyway, don't lose any sleep over Mizu no Kuni, you did everything you could."

"Yes… my Lord…" Iori groaned. "You have… ensured… our… survival… and at this stage… that is… the best… we could have… hoped for…"

"Iori, your injury!"

"Don't worry… Akira…sama… I will be fine… as will Zipang…"


	3. Chapter 3: Prosperity of the Brotherhood

Chapter 3: Prosperity of the Brotherhood

The many dropships flying away landed in the new base in Tetsu no kuni. Medics carried Iori out of the dropship to receive treatment as a medical center, but Takumi, Akira, Hikaru and Katsurou stepped out last.

"Akira-kun, Hikaru-san, Katsurou-san, were you able to access your full powers in the battle?" Takumi asked.

"I felt as though I had in the beginning, but twice I did something that astounded me," Akira replied with frustration.

"Maybe the conclusion we reached when we tested out these forms was wrong: maybe we do not know everything there is to know about our genes' hidden powers?" Katsurou hypothesized.

"The five of us alone were barely enough to buy the defense time on the ground," Hikaru notified, "…but if something like this happens again, we will need more help. Takumi no Kami-sama, do you know of anyone who we can enlist?"

"Before any of that," Akira interrupted, "…we need to have a solid base of operations somewhere. I don't want our existence to be advertised to the whole world; it would cause mass panic. The location where we settle needs to be hidden."

"Akira-kun, maybe we could try build this base in Scion?" Takumi suggested.

"I don't know. We were taken there by the Protoss, and that Gladius woman seemed like she'd sooner murder us than let us base ourselves there."

"It is the only part of Zipang which is well-hidden, even more so than the darkest parts of Yami no Kuni. Until the Protoss came along, nobody had found it. Let us appeal to their Tribunal: maybe we can use the test site we used last time?"

"It's risky, the Legion of the Gladius will very likely be a problem there, but we can try. The Legion of the Castra was quite warm, and the Legion of the Frumentarii was at least non-hostile."

The next day, once Iori had recovered, the Brotherhood of Amber took a hover transport to the Hidden City of Scion, where they appeared before the ruling council of the city, the Tribunal, to make their case. They mentioned that although they managed to stop the Zerg advance, it was far too close a call, and that the five of them alone may not be enough, but they need to remain hidden from prying eyes.

"This Tribunal has come to a decision," one of the many Tribunes spoke after several minutes of debate. "The city of Scion shall honor your request to use this place as your training ground, but we have a few conditions that you will honor if you wish to continue. The first is that none of you five serve on the leadership of this training camp; you will very often be called away on duties and cannot risk overextending yourself or bringing tardiness to this new institution."

"Understood, Tribune. I concur with this judgment, and I agree that it will be to the detriment of the establishment if any of us five serve on its governing body," Takumi replied.

"Our second condition is that we want a governing body of no more and no less than five members, excluding the trainers you will need. Attached to that, we want each of the three Scion Legions to have representation in this council, as although it is a body independent of the Legions, we do not want our concerns ignored. You can fill the remaining two seats with whomsoever you wish, but they must be well versed in administration."

"I concur, Tribune, but I must apologize for my faulty memory. Can you please refresh me on what the various Legions do?"

"Since you will be residing in Scion for much of the time, we will see fit to honor your request. The Legion of the Gladius is our main military might. They are the ones who are prepared to lay down their lives to defend Scion from any threat. The Legion of the Castra is our architectural force in the city. They have spearheaded many successful construction projects, produced research that has been integral to our survival and has made sure that we have what we need to survive. Much of the Legion will be focusing on the construction of your Headquarters. Finally, the Legion of the Frumentarii is our eyes and ears that hear what happens in the outside world. Were it not for the Frumentarii, we would not have been aware of the events that have happened in the overworld, and they are ever vigilant to provide us with information and, if need be, divert attention away from us."

"Thank you. What is your third condition?"

"Our third condition is that you ensure some way to stop overworld profligates from discovering our holy city. The Legion of the Frumentarii has managed to, in the past, steal nanomachine samples, and the Legion of the Castra has discovered a way to create small amounts of nanomachines and repurpose them. As you are well aware, the Castra has also found a way to use the wood resin from our Black Forest to mass-produce the mineral Amber. Confer with them and see what you can do to preserve secrecy."

"Yes, Tribunal."

"Our fourth condition is that we insist on a good hierarchy to divide the experienced from the ignorant. And we insist that you, yourselves, must go through the tuition and trial needed to ascend this hierarchy. You claim yourselves untrained, so we don't see fit to grant you rank out of favoritism."

"We concur."

"Our final condition is that, with the exception of your party as you are involved in the government of neighboring Zipang, they who have not reached the top of the hierarchy cannot leave Scion unless it is confirmed that they have to."

"We concur with this ruling as well."

"Very well, we will allow you to use Scion to train yourselves. Confer with the three Castra Legates, and decide on your location, preferred structures and the rest of what you need for your endeavor. We bid you 'Vale' until we meet again."

Upon leaving, Takumi's group found the Legates, the generals of the specific Legions, waiting, and immediately set to work. That month was spent constructing three towers on the edge of Scion furthest from the Entrance hole, or "Porta lucis" (Gate of light) as Scion called it. Those three towers stood on the edge of a hill that was gentle when walking into the city, yet the face of the hill pointing to the forest was perpendicular to the ground. The first tower, the Athenaeum, was to house a library of knowledge to use, and also host the various training rooms and seminar halls necessary to expand the knowledge of those in attendance. The second, the Sanctuary, hosted the rooms that the learners were going to inhabit for the duration of their training, a dormitory of sorts except that everyone had their own room, or Haven. That also housed a number of kitchens to produce the food needed, and multiple dining areas to allow the fledgling members of the Brotherhood of Amber to eat without fear of overcrowding. The final tower, the Magisterium, stood between the Athenaeum and the Sanctuary, and would play host to the five people to lead the society. There were Havens inside the Magisterium, but many of them would be in use by the support staff of the towers. There were also two important chambers inside that tower.

When construction of the new Seminary of the Amber-Inlaid Path was complete, the Tribunal presented its three candidates to serve on the ruling council. Takumi's remaining two people were also presented, although one was human and the other was Protoss. These two, along with the Gladius, Castra and Frumentarii representatives, formed the Cardinals of the Amber-Inlaid Path, and Takumi found himself happy that this happened; having too much power scared him, as you could possibly get away with whatever you wanted and, in the process, earn the hatred of the people you are meant to protect.

Right then, a successful discussion led to the implementation of a method that would ensure secrecy, and the Cardinals also instituted the hierarchic system demanded by the Tribunal, to determine experience and training. There were three levels: the first was that of an Acolyte; he who had yet to awaken his true "Divine" form, or grasp its basic nature. They were so named because, unlike so many others, they chose to follow the path to unlock their Divine self. Second, were the Awakened; although they had grasped their Divine Form's basic nature and were proficient in combat, they had yet to truly master their powers. Finally, were the Ascended; those who had mastered their powers, and reached the limit of what could be taught in terms of how to control them and how to fight. These people were the masters of their genes; of their bodies.

The Cardinals worked with the new Amber Forges run by the Castra Legion to create a way of differentiating Brotherhood members: the Amber Tear Necklaces. They were just like ordinary necklaces but had tear-dropped shapes of amber infused with nanomachines (Takumi, along with the Cardinals, suspected that there were yet undiscovered properties of amber, as this mineral was used to help them achieve divinity). Only one amber tear drop in the center of the necklace indicated an Acolyte. Three of these, one on either side of the central amber tear, indicated the wearer was an Awakened, while an Ascended would wear a necklace with five of these amber tears. The Scion Amber Forges were also responsible for the creation of the Amber Shrines, which were each a semi circle of five amber spikes with each one at a 45 degree angle to the next, the center being the location of a kneeling Brother trying to increase his knowledge of power, or simply meditate on recent events. These shrines were also located in the Sanctuary, in each individual residence, or Haven. The Shrines would allow for the inexperienced Acolytes to gain their Divine forms, as they came to be known, and also help experienced members to further understand their powers, as this organic mineral's presence helped to relax people, and open themselves up further to their own deepest secrets..

The five Cardinals worked on the creation of six tests to judge whether an exaltation of rank was in order. The first three tests, the tests of Awakening, were just to determine if the Acolyte was ready for exaltation to Awakened, held in one chamber of the Magisterium, the Chamber of Awakening. The last three tests, the tests of Ascension, held in the Chamber of Ascension also in the Magisterium, were to determine if the Awakened was ready to be considered Ascended. There was a one-year gap between passing the Tests of Awakening and taking the Tests of Ascension to allow for development of the Follower's abilities and education.

After rigorous study, Takumi, Akira, Iori, Hikaru and Katsurou achieved the rank of Awakened a year after the Seminary's opening. Due to the second problem of manpower needed, each of them were also scouting out other potential members. By the start of the second year of training at the Seminary, the five Followers had found four new people.

The first additional member was found by Akira: an enigmatic figure that insisted being addressed as Corsair. He was very secretive, even for the normally reclusive Shadow Warriors, but there were various rumors around him joining their ranks: some suggest that he was part of a Yami no Kuni street gang, before the arrival of the Protoss, which was wiped out by the Shadow Warriors. Instead of being annihilated, he was recruited after the destruction due to certain talents he displayed. Other rumors point to a life of thievery during childhood in Kaze no Kuni. When he attempted to one day pickpocket one of the Shadow Warrior senseis, it was suggested that he found himself instantly, tearfully begging for mercy in an iron grip. However, instead of the young ruffian being decapitated, the sensei took him in seeing much potential. Regardless, he always kept his pre-Shadow Warrior life a secret. Once he was there, he quickly gained fame for his methods: he placed a heavy emphasis on using his speed and agility, the element of surprise and his trusty tanto dagger to overwhelm his foes before they can even notice him. When people do get a chance to look at him, all they see is a hooded figure in the black garb of the Shadow Warriors.

The second was found by Takumi shortly after Akira's success: a woman with the name of Funabashi Sanae no Mizu. She featured long, sleek black hair extending past her shoulders, smooth skin, thin lips and blue eyes, preferring to dress in a black kimono with red decorations, wear black socks and black zori sandals. She also radiated an aura that of benevolence and charity, and due to this along with enough of a skill at persuasion, she had gained many connections within the Zipang Empire. However, she was happiest looking after children, especially those who had nobody else to turn to. This was particularly prevalent in eastern Zipang on Mizu no kuni, so she settled down as a matron at an orphanage there. Takumi actually knew her when she was younger as she and his mother were good friends, and he had subsequently formed a bond with her. For some reason though, she hated her past, only hinting to Takumi when he asked that she wasn't always the black-haired angel he had come to know. The Zerg invasion had, however, drilled through a sense of naïveté she had. She believed that she could protect her children on her own, but the arrival of the Zerg shattered that delusion. After seeing the horror that nearly consumed her livelihood and the children she had grown to love, she resolved to become stronger. To protect those precious to her, she would go to new lengths, and unlock the power hidden deep inside her.

The third new Acolyte was a boy in his late teens who called himself Iseyada Yuto no Kori, approaching the Cardinals of the Amber-Inlaid Path directly. Considering his age, he was actually a midget at only four feet. He had short blue/grey hair in an untidy style and a skinny build. He was the first member of the Brotherhood to hail from the Hidden City of Scion itself, and from his shy demeanor, you originally wouldn't think him to be with them. He was actually one of the more academically inclined as a child. As a result, he took an interest in what was happening outside of Scion, and when he came of age where you are required to devote yourself to a Legion, he chose the Legion of the Castra. It was this choice, and the architectural training he received and excelled at, which led him to be involved in the construction of the three towers of the Seminary. He also knew about the Zerg and wanted to be able to fight them as well. However, one fundamental problem with that was that unlike most of his people, he didn't take to fighting as was traditional. All of the Legions received combat training, and although Castra Legionaries received the least out of the three, they could still fight much better than him. He was the weakest of the weak with combat skills, therefore ostracized by the majority of Scion. He instead preferred to take on a more supportive role, hoping to prove that just because he lacked martial prowess, he shouldn't be treated differently. There was one other big driving force that led him to joining the Brotherhood aside from the Zerg threat. Due to his reputation in Scion being blemished, he often felt lonely. Although he tried to convince himself otherwise, a feeling of desolation would always creep up on him.

The fourth initiate into the Brotherhood was the General that had fought in the Battle of Zipang: Akutagawa Yua no Tetsu, having used Takumi as leverage. She was a six-foot tall, playful woman with shoulder length light blue/cyan twin ponytails. Many people would have considered her out-of-place as she had what she called a love-affair with firearms. Due to her particular passions and how sharp-eyed she was, she could only have joined the Zipang Military without having her firearm-happy personality getting someone killed. However, even there, she was somewhat… odd. Despite her nature, she could be serious when the situation called for it. She came to prominence as a tactician during the war with the Protoss. Her tactics concentrated on wearing down the enemy from range with, among other things, hidden snipers, machine gun and rifle emplacements and mortars. Unlike other commanders, she only used melee-focused infantry to protect her ranged attackers should the enemy troops come into melee range. Her tactics worked a surprising number of times, and she became a General just before the end of the war. Such was her success that she was chosen by Takumi as one of the main Generals coordinating the ground forces during the Battle of Zipang. Since then, though, she wasn't paid much attention. Her superior seemed to be taking much more of an interest in this 'Brotherhood' of his, so she had him volunteer her to get him to pay some attention to one of his own generals! Subsequently, since being chosen to become a member of the Brotherhood of Amber, Yua had taken an interest in talking to Takumi. This never seemed to sit well with Akira, as she always sounded flirtatious when doing so. As a result this faithful bodyguard would order her away from him.

These four Acolytes were the first to be recruited into the Brotherhood, and they were making serious inroads into their training. For Corsair, grim determination seemed to egg him on. Sanae seemed to be motivated by a sense of deep concern, feeling that she _needed_ to be ready for next time. Yuto seemed driven by sheer willpower; he wanted to prove that he wasn't weak despite his lack of combat training, and he shouldn't be sidelined. Strength was a subjective concept, and he was not weak, whatever people said. Yua, meanwhile, pressed forward due to a sense of attraction towards Takumi; no matter how long it took, she would get him to notice her! Although others were found and became Acolytes, these four were making remarkable progress.

About a year had passed since the first five Followers became Awakened. They had trained hard, especially in unique ways of combat, seemingly grasped their full power and were ready to take on the Tests of Ascension. They were very difficult but in the end, Tokiha Takumi no Kami Tadayori, Okuzaki Akira no Kaminari, Adachi Iori no Hikari, Kada Hikaru no Tsuchi and Kitao Katsurou no Kaze became the first Ascended. They had also discovered an interesting property of the Amber Tear Necklaces, namely the ability to sense foreign nanotechnology.

A few months after Takumi's group passed the Tests of Ascension, Corsair, Sanae, Yuto and Yua became the second group of Awakened. Eventually, others followed suit, but these four were exceptional and well on their way to being able to take the Tests of Ascension. The Seminary of the Amber-Inlaid Path had become a bit livelier, as there were now close to thirty members of the Brotherhood of Amber, mainly consisting of Acolytes and the occasional Awakened.

One day came, and it would be a day that would change everything. Takumi and the other four Ascended were meditating at their Shrines, maintaining a sense of tranquility, until one moment: There was a very loud noise that cracked many Amber Shrines' spikes. To Takumi, it sounded like someone struck a note on an organ, but for it to crack the Amber Spikes of the Shrines meant it must have been powerful. A Watcher outside Scion, on a nearby peak in the mountainous Kori no kuni manned by the Frumentarii, informed Takumi and the Cardinals of the Amber-Inlaid Path that a giant beam of light was sighted towards the West, and that its appearance coincided with the sounding of the noise. The Cardinals privately implored Takumi to try and find what exactly created the noise, and later the Protoss managed to locate where it originated: Windbloom Kingdom.

Takumi, at that point, made an urgent appointment to visit Windbloom within the next three days. The Cardinals of the Amber-Inlaid Path recommended that he take Akira, Iori, Hikaru and Katsurou as a precaution in case something untoward happened. Corsair and Sanae also successfully volunteered to accompany them. Yua would have probably joined them had it not been for Takumi talking her down when she attempted to volunteer. It was just one day away from one delegation departing to pave the way for their arrival in Windbloom when Takumi got a feeling that he must go with _them_. He couldn't explain this feeling, but it told him that this _had_ to be done, thus he departed with that delegation, taking what he thought would be an adequate amount of his medication.

Akira and the rest only found about this the day after the first delegation departed, and they quickly drew up a plan: Akira would pose as Takumi during the visit. Due to the possibility of a scare emerging, no Protoss would accompany them, save for a few Observers due to their invisibility. There was one other thing they decided to do before they left for Windbloom: on the advice of the Cardinals, they decided _not_ to use their Divine forms unless no other course of action was available. They were, after all, still only few in number and things would get very problematic if the Brothers' abilities caused a scare among the foreign population, especially the Otome. During these tense times, they couldn't risk other nations turning against them or potentially discovering Scion. There was also an unwritten oath among them: if at all possible, they would NEVER spill the blood of another human being. Just because their Divine forms looked inhuman didn't mean they had to lose their humanity.

Everything was set. The four Ascended that hadn't already departed were sure that Akira could pull off posing as Takumi. No one outside the nation had ever seen the Prince of Zipang ever since the actions of Shogun Kaneshiro, so why should they suspect? Meanwhile, Takumi had arrived in Windbloom, and his adventure there was just beginning.


	4. Chapter 4: Windbloom Brood

Chapter 4: Windbloom Brood

Tokiha Takumi no Kami Tadayori, wearing the green outfit he used to wear on outings to the Zipang Provinces, had just arrived in Windbloom, and was looking for a place to stay. It should have been three days before the main delegation was due to arrive in the city, but so far, there wasn't anything to suggest that Windbloom was ready. While the visit from Zipang was on quite short notice, it wasn't too short to allow for a proper welcoming of a foreign power. The city itself was kept quite pristine, yet all he could see were posters of a violet-haired woman in royal regalia, with the words "Our Lovely Queen" alongside. As Takumi continued walking down the streets of the city, he could see even more posters showing "Our Lovely Queen", and when he asked about the posters, everyone told him the same thing: that Queen Mashiro Blan de Windbloom's birthday was in the next two days, and the whole city was to celebrate her birthday then. The more of these stories he heard about this lavish city-wide party, and the more of those posters he saw, the more a feeling of sorrow rose up inside Takumi. This queen seemed so… empty… it felt painful to think about it.

Near the end of the day, Takumi looked into the golden-orange sunset of Windbloom, and… memories of his sister, Tokiha Mai no Kasai, resurfaced. That golden-orange color: it seemed to be her favorite, although she'd also dress in a light blue yukata to take him to the Kyuseishu Matsuri, a festival held in all ten provinces dedicated to Shogun Kaneshiro Hideki no Kami Kyuseishu for his decision to isolate the country to allow it time to recover from the devastating War of the Twelve Kings. Mai always used to try and get him some dumplings, and during the days when they visited the festivals in the Kasai no Kuni province, there was always a cooking challenge. Takumi and Mai always entered these contests together when they could, where they were lauded for being the best cooks around, but when they were forced to go head to head in making a meal, she always beat him. Despite her constantly winning over him, those cooking contests would always be considered two-horse races, as when the best face each other, you never truly know who is going to win in the end. Overall, though, those were wonderful days, and wonderful memories, that Takumi shared with his sister.

The more he thought about it, the more he missed Mai. He still remembered that fateful day when she announced to Hinamoto that she was going to travel west, a day after Takumi's seventh birthday and his relocation to Kami no Kuni. She knew that he would soon succeed him, but she felt that as she was then, she couldn't have been of help, and aside from which, cutting oneself off from the rest of the world wasn't going to work forever. The day after, Takumi and Akira bade Mai farewell, and Zipang heard nothing of her since then.

If the legends of the Otome were anything to go by, she had to have gone through Windbloom to get to their training grounds at Garderobe Academy. Takumi felt that he needed to see what she saw, feel what it was like in a new city after centuries of self-imposed isolation. The only major city he was used to was that of Kami no Kuni, the only place in Zipang that could truly be called a city as opposed to the towns of the daimyos in the other eight provinces (excluding Kori no Kuni as it only attracted a small number of people). This city was quite beautiful, but that sunset also reminded him of an archive captured by the Scion Frumentarii and stored in the Athenaeum about a particular Otome known as the Tragic Meister. The information captured there strongly suggested that this tragic Otome was his older sister, which made it unlikely that he would find her, but he still wanted to see what she saw.

The main problem, right now, was that he had no place to stay, and the sun was almost gone. Right then, he heard a scream coming from an alleyway; a girl's voice. If someone was in trouble, it felt wrong for Takumi to not help due to what he could do, so he entered the alleyway, but before pressing further, he closed his eyes. Hisses of pain started escaping from his lips as his skin and hair drained its color and became pure white. His clothes burst into blue flames that vanished a second later, revealing his blue pulpit robes, and he opened his now red eyes. Running further into the alleyway, he found two men brandishing knives standing in front of a little girl with dirty blonde hair and burgundy rags.

"Just be a good girl and give us the food," one of the men spoke.

"What do you want, kid?" the other man yelled, noticing Takumi. "Wait – what the hell are you?"

"Surrender everything you have stolen," Takumi ordered, his red eyes focusing on the two armed men. Right then, they rummaged through their own pockets and put loaves of bread, bundles of cash and various trinkets.

"That is everything."

"Forget this night ever happened, and go to sleep." Upon Takumi speaking these words, both men fainted. Since there was nothing more that needed to be done, Takumi closed his eyes and burst into blue flames that vanished in the next instant. His skin and hair regained its color, and he was in his green clothes again. "Are you alright?" he asked the girl.

"Who – what are you?" she stammered.

"Sorry if I scared you, I just couldn't stand idly by while you were in danger. I heard your scream a minute ago."

"What are you though?"

"I am afraid I cannot tell you. I've taken a vow of silence on that matter. Don't worry, though, I have no intention of harming you. Did they take anything from you?"

"Yes, but now all this stuff is yours, isn't it? You will just take it from those who need it most!"

"No. If they stole from you, you have every right to want that back. I entrust these items to you."

"Th… thanks, but you'll want some payment for saving me, right?"

"Don't worry about payment, although there is one thing I would like to ask: do you have a place to stay?"

"So what if I do!?"

"I need some lodgings for the next few nights, so can I stay with you?"

"Fine, since you saved me, I'll make an exception and take you home with me. You don't look like you're from around here, though," the girl said, after which they started walking.

"I'm not. I just arrived from a foreign country."

"Which one? You don't look like you're from Aries, or Cardair."

"Zipang, in the Eastern Kingdoms."

"Never heard of it."

"I'm not surprised; we isolated ourselves from the world about three hundred years ago."

"Tell me, does the King there celebrate birthdays by throwing money away on lavish parties?"

"The Shogun? Not really. The only national holiday there based around a Shogun was the Kyuseishu Matsuri, dedicated to Shogun Kaneshiro-sama who took the decision to isolate Zipang to allow it to rebuild from the devastating war at the time. Many people perceived it a good development, as we were able to repair some of the damage without getting involved in political power plays in the Western nations. After Kaneshiro-sama's passing, the Kyuseishu Matsuri was created to celebrate the day he cut the nation off, due to the efforts focusing entirely on restoration that had borne fruit. I have to say I'm curious; what has the Queen done for her nation to warrant such extravagant celebration across the city?"

"Absolutely nothing! The only thing happening is that she is rebuilding her castle! And then she has the nerve to think of putting posters up to force us to celebrate her birthday!?"

"So it is just an abuse of power? There is no action to commemorate?"

"Nothing at all."

"How… sad…"

"We're here." Takumi and the girl were in front of a small, wooden shack by a river. "It's just me and my grandma here, although I do have one extra mat that you can sleep on."

"Thank you. What is your name?"

"Mimi, and I have to say that for a foreigner, you seem a lot less picky than I would have expected. How long will you be here?"

"Only for the next couple of days. After that, I will need to return home."

Takumi and Mimi continued talking that night, and he met some of the other residents dwelling alongside the river. Although they were poor, they proved quite approachable. The supper there was basic, whatever they could scrape together, and then night time

The next day, he continued exploring, and wandered close to Garderobe, where he was advised to keep away from the school. It didn't come as much of a surprise to him, though; from the records collected by the Scion Frumentarii, Garderobe was considered sacred to the Otome, so it was to be expected that they'd keep undesirables off the grounds. By now, the main delegation from Zipang was two days away.

One day left before Akira's arrival, and Takumi thought to investigate Wind City's new castle construction site, but upon approaching the area, he was ordered away from the guards and called a piece of slum trash. There was something unnerving about the reconstruction itself, but since he was forced away, he couldn't investigate further. Maybe a Shadow Warrior could infiltrate the site, but for now he'd have to file this away. Walking back, he heard footsteps behind him. He kept walking… the footsteps persisted. Was he being followed? He detoured into an alleyway and turned to face the direction he came from… he could see a man in black robes with a hood.

"Your look… you saw something about the castle, didn't you?" the man questioned.

"Maybe, why?" Takumi replied, closing his eyes: he could feel a fight was going to occur.

"So be it. Don't hate me, but you will have to die. It's nothing personal, it is just business." The cloaked man took out a black gem and pricked his thumb on it, whereupon blood started flowing _into_ the stone. "Under the contract of darkness, I fulfill my oath. God of ancient light, knowledge and wisdom, grant me a loyal servant."

A six-legged beast burst from the ground, and its mouth was open and facing Takumi. This had to be a SLAVE. Just like two days before, Takumi started hissing in pain as the color of his skin and hair drained to become white. Finally, blue flames engulfed him and vanished, leaving him in the blue pulpit robes of his Divine Form.

The SLAVE started inhaling, but Takumi instead ordered its master to stop it from attacking. The beast ceased its activity, but then Takumi psychically ordered it to skewer itself on something. It leapt away towards something, and soon, the robed assailant was dissolving into green light. According to the Frumentarii data, that meant that the SLAVE successfully managed to fulfill the order given to it, as the life of it and its master were linked. Takumi returned to his Normal Form, with his normal hair, skin, clothes and eyes. He kneeled where the man used to be, closed his eyes and put his hands together, as if offering a prayer. "May the holy Amber show your soul mercy where I could not," he spoke in a solemn, reverent voice. The castle guards were highly likely to be on alert now, if they had SLAVE users in their ranks, so he had to desist for now.

The next day, the Zipang delegation arrived, with Akira at the head in the Shogun's regalia, flanked by Iori, Hikaru, Katsurou, Corsair and Ryoko, and she quickly ordered Shadow Warriors to search the city and find Takumi. Hopefully, they could find him before what little he took of his medication ran dry. The members of the Brotherhood of Amber accompanied her to greet the Queen of Windbloom.

Takumi, meanwhile, continued exploring, and found a violet-haired girl unconscious, with a fat black cat lying on her. Looking at her, he knew from the posters plastered on the buildings that she was Queen Mashiro, but nonetheless, she was in danger on the road so he took her back to his residence. While he was playing with her cat some time later, she woke up, introduced herself as Nina Wong and told a nearby Mimi that she was from Artai. He eventually had to lead 'Nina' out of the riverside slums. When he heard that it was her birthday that day, he spent what money he had left on buying her a flower. He knew it wasn't much, but he still wanted to at least make her day somewhat happy. Judging by the sheer number of posters that had been put up, there was nobody else that would celebrate this special day with her, thus making her force people to do so through her power as Queen. This particular suspicion was further reinforced when she volunteered to accompany him through the city after receiving the flower.

Akira, meanwhile, had met the Queen of Windbloom and was being taken through the streets in a Norimono litter vehicle held up by other members of the delegation. Iori, walking alongside the litter, was given and relayed a report by a Shadow Warrior that they still hadn't found Takumi, which he relayed to Akira. The lack of success was bugging her: she knew his medication was dangerously close to depletion, but yet he was so drawn to people that he had to be incomprehensibly nice to them. This had happened multiple times in Zipang, most often in Kasai no Kuni, and he might have gotten mixed in with strange people here in Windbloom.

Later, they were getting toured through Garderobe Academy. The number of Otome that greeted them was large, but Akira and the other five members of the Brotherhood could sense that most of these Otome were still novices. Even watching a practice battle at the Arena, they concluded that very few of these Otome were battle-ready. Katsurou suspected that they were weak now, but could ultimately become stronger given time. Sanae, on the other hand, didn't feel that these children should be groomed for combat. They were too young, and on top of that, why did you have to thrust young _girls_ into a life of violence. Corsair seemed quite interested in the Otome despite his belief that such slow, inefficient and self-destructive girls could possibly keep peace and order on this world. His interest probably didn't have to do with the Otome, but the fact that the Amber Tear Necklace, a reflection of his experience, had one amber jewel each pointed in the direction of the two Otome. Those two out of three jewels in the necklace; could they potentially track Otome? The other members of the Brotherhood noticed the same thing when he brought it to their attention, although they noted that it only appeared to track those Otome whose Robes were active to a large degree, and not the ones resting.

Takumi and Mashiro had traversed much of Windbloom, enjoying several attractions, rides and treats. It was a while since he was able to relax this much, and he was enjoying it; just to be able to forget about the stress for a time was a welcome respite. He could tell that Mashiro was also enjoying herself, and he thought that maybe the possibility of her being alone rang even truer.

Akira collapsed in a room provided to her by the Otome, and Iori was busy addressing the rest of their people. Now was her chance to relax a bit, and get out of those _annoying_ clothes. She didn't like having to wear Takumi's robes, as they put her in a position she wasn't comfortable being in. However, minutes later, while meditating, she heard a voice identifying her as a woman. Quickly drawing a kunai, she looked carefully around for the source, but by the time she found it, she was held in place by one of the Meister Otome from earlier. She told her: "You can fool others, but you can't fool my eyes!" and demanded to know why Akira was impersonating Takumi. It wasn't until "Mashiro" came in that Akira was able to slip through the Meister's hold, and when she did, she used one of her Smoke Bombs to escape from the building. Now that she was revealed, things could prove to become very problematic.

As she sped through the treetops to escape, Iori came with news: Takumi was found with a strange girl. But there were more worrisome matters at hand: on each of their Amber Tear Necklaces, three tears were glowing and constantly changing direction. This could only mean one thing: three Otome had materialized their Robes. To make matters worse, one tear was swiveling to the direction in which they were heading, and pretty soon, the same Meister Otome that confronted Akira now stood in their way, claiming that she wouldn't let them escape. Iori informed Akira that he would handle the Otome and was thanked by her but told to remember the promise he made. She jumped away and he drew his blade, ready to at least buy her some time and fight this interloper.

Takumi, along with Mashiro, were walking through a park, when the former was asked what he thought of the country. What he thought? He liked what he saw of the country, but he was concerned about the Queen. Instead of focusing on more important things, she was wasting away her treasury on rebuilding the castle and the massive birthday celebrations, while people were suffering. It was around that time that his disease started flaring up, causing considerable pain in his chest.

As Akira zoomed through the air, another tear swiveled to her direction and she soon crossed blades as a young Otome attacked her. Upon demonstrating her skill as a Shadow Warrior and knowledge as an Ascended by using her assailant as a stepping stone, the Otome asked if she was also an Otome. In response she said: "Don't group me up with those fools! I am…" but she stopped her sentence when she saw Takumi clutching at his chest and a girl that was possibly attacking or taking advantage of him! She drew her own short sword and shot towards him, but was blocked by another young Otome. She landed by him just as the Otome took the girl away, announced his identity as the true Tokiha Takumi no Kami Tadayori and gave him the medicine he needed via a kiss: something which seemed to annoy the real Mashiro.

Hikaru and Katsurou caught up to them by that point, and everyone (including Iori, with a broken arm, and his Meister opponent) remained with him until the stomach disease attack died down.

"Akira-sama," Katsurou spoke, with his hand on the ground. "Something is wrong."

"What?" Akira gasped, dropping her head to the ground with her ear on the soil. "This is just wonderful! **Prepare for combat! It's them!**"

Hikaru held his arms perpendicular to his sides, but was asked by Akira what he was doing. "We cannot fight them as we are."

"We cannot reveal those; there are people around!"

"We have no other options, Akira-sama," Hikaru noted, he and Katsurou bursting into blue and red flames respectively, each flame creating a sphere of blue and red energy with black skeletons within.

"I concur, Akira-sama," Iori shouted, jets of steam billowing forth from his skin as it and his clothes became a translucent white color, "There's a time for secrecy and a time for action!" A white mist was now covering where he was, further illuminated by the streetlights.

"Very well," Akira sighed, gritting her teeth as her body lit up with purple electricity. Within a second, her arms had become black with scales, her back had become jagged, as had her front with the V-shaped spikes that grew along towards her sides, her skin blackened, her teeth became sharp jaws and her eyes turned to a bright scarlet, her entire body sparking purple electricity.

Takumi stood up, and for the third time during his visit, had his skin and hair lose all color to become white, burst into blue flames, and reappeared in blue pulpit robes. Just then, three Nydus Worms burst from the ground, vomiting Zerglings at a rapid pace. Just as he thought to control some of the swarm, he realized that Mashiro was still in the vicinity. "Hurry! Get out of here!" he yelled, and right then she turned and ran, though most likely due to the hold over her contained in the command.

The Meister Otome had already set to work, extending her weapon and snaking it around to pierce a whole dozen Zerglings per strike. Those blades would just thrust right into the Zerg in one movement, soon seeking out more. Iori imagined that weapon, and formed some of the mist into a replica. It also extended and snaked to kill as many Zerglings as possible in that second despite the weapon not creating physical wounds. Akira was pulling scales out of her arm and throwing them at the emerging Zerg like shurikens, while Hikaru was firing blue lightning blasts and Katsurou was cleaving through individual Zerglings with the red energy blades. The two young Otome, since they were just wielding small staves, couldn't do much aside from knock the Zerg away.

Two more Nydus Worms burst through the ground and started regurgitating Roaches, while one of the original three started vomiting Hydralisks. Takumi psychically ordered the Hydralisks to attack the other Zerg, but they kept aiming for the Brotherhood and Otome. If they were resisting his commands… that meant that there was a controller nearby, and if it was what he thought it was…

Akira, after throwing her scale-shurikens into innumerable amounts of Zerg, turned into a bolt of purple lightning. She shot through the Nydus Worm's eye, then through a second Nydus Worm, piecing it before striking the ground by a third worm and reappearing there. After that, she inhaled deeply, throwing electric scale-shurikens to thin the surrounding swarm. When she exhaled a few seconds later, smoke billowed out from her mouth which shrouded the whole area around the Worm. She jumped to above the creature's lone eye, drew her electrified blade and thrust it into the pupil. She would pull the sword out, only to thrust it back in, and only once the Nydus Worm gave a dying scream did it retreat underground.

From one of the two remaining Nydus Worms, a monstrosity stepped forth onto the ground: the same creature as in the Battle of Zipang, with its black scaly skin, blue eyes, blue glowing cracks, four tentacles and two massive claws instead of hands. Urun had previously identified it as a Protoss/Zerg Hybrid that leaned more towards the Zerg side, and upon seeing this, Akira moved to get Takumi out of the battlefield. She grabbed him, jumped towards a tall building and put him down on its roof, giving him a better view of the area, before returning to the battle.

Takumi closed his eyes, and focused on trying to order the Hybrid to do something. No other weapons were doing anything to it, and if nothing stronger arrived, nothing was to stop it from calling more Zerg. "Desist… desist… stop it… halt…"

The Hybrid continued attacking everyone on the ground. Last time, Takumi was so focused on trying… he needed to blot out everything else. He closed his eyes

There were no sounds of battle.

There was no weapon clashing

There was no screaming…

There was only the Hybrid

There was only him…

There was only that headache that was creeping up on him…

No… that headache doesn't exist. That throbbing pain… doesn't exist… that increasingly torturous pain in his head, in his neck… is nothing more than an attempt at distraction.

The accompanying sound of battle, screaming, roaring, clashing… that was all just noise…

That noise must be blocked out… There is no noise

That massive pain in his head must be blocked out… There is no pain

There is no noise

There is no pain

There is only the Hybrid

There is no noise

There is no pain

There is only Takumi

There is nothing else

The world is void

There is only the Hybrid

There is only Takumi.

He felt lighter. Taking a chance, he opened his eyes to see himself and the Hybrid in a room with walls covered in Zerg-like flesh. The Hybrid saw him… charged at him… but he was not the same as he was two years ago during the fall of Mizu no Kuni. He felt himself levitate off the ground, and as soon as the Hybrid thrust its claw down at him, he displaced to the side and levitated behind it. A small sphere of blue flame appeared in front of his forehead and shot towards the Hybrid, although he then crashed onto the ground, suffering another headache. The shot disintegrated upon contact with the Hybrid's skin. It charged, a claw raised. It brought its claw down upon Takumi, but he regained levitation and propelled himself backwards. He shot another blue fire bead. The Hybrid's skin wasn't even blackened.

Takumi thought of two fire beads, each one appearing in front of his forehead, and waited. The Hybrid was charging at him again. Fire! A bead shot into its one blue eye, causing it to step back reeling. The other eye in sight. Fire! Lucky shot again, the eye was also bleeding.

There wasn't much time, so Takumi imagined the three beads of fire revolving, to create a ring of blue fire. The spheres of fire appeared, began revolving, and formed the ring of fire. It continued to speed up, until the Hybrid was towering over him. His target was clear.

"Kaen Kōgeki!" Takumi shouted, and beads of light shot from in front of his hands, legs and forehead to collide at one point, shooting through the blue ring of fire and leaving a revolving blue inferno in its wake. The shot rocketed towards the Hybrid, shooting right into the creature's salivating mouth, whereupon it started thrashing around in pain. The flames billowing into its mouth soon set the whole creature alight, and as it burned, it fell to the ground.

The Hybrid that Akira, Iori, Hikaru, Katsuoru and the Otome were fighting stopped trying to defend itself, and instead used its claws to hold its mouth open.

"Takumi," Akira spoke, turning into a bolt of lightning and shooting into the creature's mouth. It jerked forward, then backward, then to the sides, before a bolt of purple lightning shot out of its mouth and struck the ground, re-forming Akira in her evolved Divine Form. The Otome, following this, extended and snaked her weapon into the creature's mouth, causing it to again violently jerk in directions before finally falling to the ground. The Nydus Worms that had brought the Zerg were now dead, the last two having been destroyed during Takumi's battle, so with no more Zerg on the surface, disaster was averted for now.


	5. Chapter 5: The first meeting of rivals

Chapter 5: The first meeting of rivals

The Zerg that had come to the surface of Windbloom had been killed, and the Hybrid had crashed to the ground, blood pouring from its mouth. Takumi, in his pale white form with blue robes and red eyes, had the color return to his skin and the robes disintegrate. Akira soon reappeared behind him in her black, scaly, spiky form, took him in her arms and brought him back down to the battleground, where one of the two red-Robed Otomes was on her back, tears in her eyes, and her limbs twitching.

"What happened to her?" Takumi asked.

"The same thing that happened to me in Mizu no Kuni," Iori's voice emanated from a cloud of white mist. That mist and the Meister Otome still had weapons pointed at each other, the yellow double-bladed sword and rifle-shaped mists.

"Both of you stand down. Katsurou-san, please get Funabashi-san."

"By your will, Takumi no Kami-sama," the black skeleton in the red sphere of energy spoke, whereupon the energy vanished and left him in his clothes before. He jumped forward in one direction as soon as the energy dissipated, leaving the other Brothers of Amber against the one Meister and one untrained Otome.

"Why Sanae?" Iori asked, his weapons still active.

"I'm worried about that fallen Otome. If she suffered what you suffered through during Mizu no Kuni, then we should assume the worst. You had some form of protection there, but from what I can tell, the fledgling Otome doesn't. I don't want anyone else to die to the Zerg; it was hard enough losing that province."

"We have to be careful though. We need to find out how Zerg got so far into Western territory. The Wall should have shielding to block their Worms."

"So that's what the creatures are called," the Otome spoke. "But tell me, just who are you?"

"Lower your weapon."

"That's not the way to address a lady."

"These creatures have been defeated for now. There's no more reason to fight. Lower… your… weapon."

Katsurou returned, followed by Corsair and Sanae. A bullet shot through the air, scraping Sanae's face, and in an instant, Corsair had the shooter in his grasp.

"I see why you called me here, Takumi-sama," Sanae spoke upon seeing the mauled Otome. "Corsair, don't kill that man. I'll need him to heal her."

"How will you heal her?" the Meister asked.

Sanae bit her lip, and as if she were bleeding, dark red, carmine spots appeared on her skin. Those spots grew instantaneously until they had covered her skin, whereupon her hair color changed from its usual black to a bright scarlet, as did her nails. Red flames simultaneously burned away her clothes to leave her in a vermillion kimono, albeit one that exposed her back. Two bat-like wings grew out of her shoulder blades, with the boned areas appearing as the same carmine color as the skin, while the flesh without bones was colored scarlet.

In this new form, Sanae walked to Corsair's thrashing captive, and placed her hand on his chest.

"What the… are you some… sort of vampire?" he began speaking, taking deep breaths in between.

"Put in another perspective, very possibly," Sanae replied. As her hand remained on his chest, the man's struggles became weaker by the minute. During the next minute, he fainted, and she spread her red wings, jumped into the air, and landed by the fallen Otome. "So, the rest of the body is all armored, it's safe to assume that the face is my only option."

"So now you're going to end the life of one of our underclassmen?" the Meister asked.

"Not necessarily. What I take…" she placed her hand on the young girl's face, as a faint red glow emanated from there, "… I am more than able to give away." The glow soon spread to the neck, the upper torso, the lower torso and upper arms, the upper legs and lower arms, the lower legs and hands, and finally the feet. As this faint glow engulfed her body, the Otome child stopped moaning, and she was able to slowly move her limbs without them jerking in pain. After another minute, Sanae removed her hand from the girl's face, and her body burst into red flames, vanishing a second later to reveal her in her previous clothes. "She just needs to rest now," she reassured.

"What did you do?" the Meister questioned, as the sun slowly started to disappear from the horizon.

"I infused her with life energy to heal her wounds. With the amount I was able to give, there might still be some minor aches and pains, but her life is no longer in danger of expiration."

"I still do not trust what you have become, but since you healed my underclassman, I will let it slide. Shall we return to Garderobe?" Her Robe phased away to reveal her in her previous clothes.

"Indeed," Iori spoke, the mist withdrawing into his body, and his clothes and skin regaining their color, whereupon his right arm again fell limp. "Ouch."

In a flash of purple lightning, the jagged form of Akira disappeared, leaving her in her human form, and Hikaru's blue energy sphere dissipated, leaving him to fall to the ground.

Later, Takumi Akira, Iori and the other four members of the Brotherhood of the Amber-Inlaid Path were in a meeting with Garderobe principal Natsuki Kurger, the Meister from earlier known as Shizuru Viola, and the two trainee Otomes Arika Yumemiya, who was healed by Sanae after being mauled by the Hybrid, and Nina Wong.

"The Otome are even greater than rumored," Takumi began. It was only one Otome he saw, but the help against the Zerg was still invaluable.

"Thank you for your compliment," Natsuki responded.

"However, I do have some concerns."

"About what?"

"I feel uneasy about placing the burden of the technology of ages past, and the fate of entire nations, upon young girls."

"It is because of the Otome that peace can be maintained."

"But because there exists such power, everybody wants an Otome, and the girls that have to answer to these demands are forced to choose between love and their dreams." Takumi knew that the constant struggle for power, and the resulting wars that could ensue, were exactly why Shogun Kaneshiro isolated Zipang from the rest of Earl.

"That cannot be helped. But that is why we have such a strict selection proves."

"But what about the Fire Stirring Ruby? How would you explain her circumstances?"

Natsuki was silent.

"She was torn between love and her desire to be an Otome. Many people thought she was a strong person, and she was, but she vanished."

"Prince…"

"The reason I have visited here today isn't to find an Otome, or to have an arranged marriage. For the time being, Zipang will not interfere with the affairs of Western Nations."

"Does that mean that other nations have sent envoys to you?"

"I should not have to disclose which nations there were, but there were many."

"I see…"

"I'm sorry, Headmistress."

"Prince, can I ask you a question?" Shizuru spoke up.

"What do you want to know?"

"What were those creatures that attacked Windbloom today?"

"They are called the Zerg, Viola-dono. They have amassed on the unexplored half of this world which is known as the Dead Zone, but Zipang has managed to hold their main swarm at bay. How they appeared in Windbloom, I am not sure."

"Perhaps your defenses failed?"

"If that were so, the skies would be filled with Zerg flyers. We have been monitoring our defenses, and none of their Nydus Worms have burrowed past them. It was fortunate you showed up there when you did, and for that, you have our thanks."

"Then… what exactly are you?"

"We have taken a vow of silence in that regard, and cannot answer that question."

"What if we take the same vow?" Arika yelled, only to be elbowed in the side by Nina.

"Actually, she is on to something," Sanae stated. "Maybe we can use that?"

"It is a possibility, but I don't feel I can trust the children," Hikaru noted.

"Yes, should Meister Viola want this information, the progeny will have to leave," Katsurou continued.

After a nod from Shizuru and Natsuki, Takumi ordered Hikaru and Katsurou to escort the young Otome out of the meeting, and when the four of them had left the room, he withdrew from his royal regalia two rings with amber gemstones and a scroll. The two Otome were asked to put the rings on, say their names and read the oath on the scroll. Once they had done the first two steps, they began reading: "I swear upon this Amber Gemstone that I will hold to myself any and all information entrusted to me by the Brothers and Sisters who walk the path, and these truths shall, under pain of removal of society should I break my oath, be heard by my ears only and may never escape my mouth to any outsider or instrument of destruction."

As they spoke these words, the gemstones on the rings lit up with a faint amber glow, after which they were removed.

"Please know that although you have sworn one of the same oaths we have, the Oath of Secrecy, I am still forbidden from giving you some information as you remain outsiders to the Brotherhood," Takumi informed. "What do you wish to know?"

"What are you?" Shizuru asked.

"We are the Brotherhood of the Amber-Inlaid Path, so named as the organic crystal of amber has awoken us to our own secrets."

"Why are you able to… mutate?"

"It is because we have awoken the dormant powers hidden in our very genes. Such awakenings don't condemn us to assume those forms for the rest of our lives, but we are able to access the latent abilities that are unique to each of us."

"Why did you come into being?"

"The Zerg. They were advancing on Zipang and the rest of the world, and although we were able to hold them back with our defenses, we had to give up one of our most important provinces: Mizu no Kuni, from where Funabashi Sanae-san hails. It was a precautionary measure, but we discovered that although we were able to hold the tide back long enough for our defenses to finish, we alone were not going to be enough."

"How many of you are there now?"

"I cannot reveal that information."

"How about your location?"

"That is another thing I am oathbound to not reveal."

"Aren't you leading the Brotherhood?"

"Only in battle, and only when I must. I do not hold sway over the other Brothers and Sisters of the Amber-Inlaid Path; that power has been relinquished."

"Why are you only able to tell us so much if we are also sworn to this oath?"

"We are continually faced with the fear that the world is not yet ready to accept our existence. Think: if we made what we are common knowledge, people would fear us and nations would seek our destruction. If we were to give away critical information about ourselves, we will invite in our own doom."

"Why then, did you let Natsuki and I know of your existence?"

"You saw us in battle, and we could tell you didn't trust us. Fear of the unknown is understandable, and we do not bear you ill will, so it is necessary to inform you of our existence."

"Now that I know your attendant was holding out on me, I would like to see how he could do in a dance battle against me."

"I cannot grant that request, Meister Shizuru-dono. Our time here has almost come to an end, and such a battle will only advertise our existence." Takumi had, in replying, left out the fact that the Brotherhood had agreed not to spill innocent blood, and that they were bound by the Oath of Humility not to flaunt their gifts for personal gain.

"May I show you to your room then, Takumi no Kami-sama?"

The rest of the night was spent with Takumi conversing with Akira about what happened, and whether the Otome could be trusted.

The next morning, Takumi, Akira, Iori, Hikaru, Katsurou, Corsair and Sanae were at the station, preparing to leave.

"I've been told that Queen Mashiro isn't feeling well today, so she cannot come to see you off," Natsuki relayed.

"I do feel terrible for some of the things I said to her, although if her discomfort is due to the Zerg attack, the feeling is understandable. I myself was horrified by those beasts. Could you tell her that I had a good time, and that I hope she becomes a wonderful Queen?" Takumi requested.

"I will do so. Prince… are you Mai's…?"

"Yes."

After boarding, the ship left the port, with the Otome Arika waving goodbye and telling them to visit again. As he waved back, Takumi was thinking that maybe they could visit again. In general, what he saw of Windbloom reminded him of his home in Kasai no Kuni, Zipang.


	6. Chapter 6: An eventful return trip

Chapter 6: An eventful return trip

As the transport back to Zipang disappeared from the horizon of Windbloom, he noticed Akira scowling. He was about to ask what was wrong when…

"We still haven't found any clues as to that loud organ five days ago," she hissed.

"I think I may have a lead on that actually," Takumi spoke, realizing something.

"What? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but I was attacked by someone with a SLAVE creature after I got close to the castle. I think something may have hijacked the reconstruction of the Queen's castle."

"The Frumentarii reports," the hushed, serious voice of the black-hooded Corsair spoke, "…have an organization known as Schwarz as the most visible SLAVE users."

"We're too far away to send a Shadow Warrior back to Windbloom… unless, Corsair?"

"Yes, Lord?"

"Can you please go back to Windbloom? You do have some Frumentarii bugs, right?"

"Yes, Lord, I have three such bugs."

"Do you want us to stop and wait for you?"

"No, Lord." Corsair's black-robed body lit up with a black light, and when it faded, the robes were gone. Instead, there was a humanoid creature with black scales all over its body, and a black bone-like mask over its nose and mouth. In its hand was a sheathed Tanto dagger. "Continue your trip home."

"You sure you can catch up to the transport?"

"Yes, Lord."

"Just please, the security around there is going to be tight. Please, make nobody aware of your presence there."

"Understood. I sail in shadows in any case. I will require a camera for evidence."

"I'll get one, Corsair," Akira spoke, retreating inside. When she came back, she handed the black-scaled form of Corsair the item, after which he dropped off the side of the ship.

"Corsair!" Takumi shouted.

"It's alright, Takumi," Akira reassured. "He's climbing down to the desert. Even without his Divine form, Corsair is perhaps the fastest and most agile of the Shadow Warriors. With his form active, his speed increases vastly, such that very few can keep up with him. He is also a master of stealth and tracking, so he can find us again, and he's got the endurance needed to run long distances."

Corsair's black-scaled form, as predicted by Akira, had descended the hull of the ship, his hands and feet seemingly sticking to the vessel. When he was low enough down the vessel, he jumped off onto the sand, and then hopped another long distance. He landed on his one foot, then jumped forward again. Other foot, forward again, and his lightning-fast speed meant that he was approaching the Windbloom station in a matter of minutes. Circling around to one of the desert mountain walls enclosing the city, he jumped from the base of one of the walls to land on top, and then jumped onto a building roof.

When he touched down on the roof, he looked around at the rest of the skyline. No sight of that vain queen's castle, although the amount of vanity she did display was sickening. He jumped from his current building to another building rooftop. Another, another, anther, but he couldn't be flashy here: this wasn't a barren desert where he could use his full Divine speed to traverse miles without being seen, but a city populated by people who could spot him if he tried tricks like that. Eventually, the vain queen's castle came into sight, and he jumped closer and closer to it, until he was on a building right next to the site. Looking around on the streets, he could see nobody near the castle, and all the guards were at another side, so he must be flanking the site. Perfect. He shot up to the blue tiles near the top, and once he touched the walls, his hands and feet stuck there. His skin started changing color, now matching the dull blue tint of the site barrier, and slowly he climbed. Looking at the ground to make sure there were no onlookers, he edged his way to the top.

From where he was, the vain queen's choice of color for the castle looked absolutely tasteless: black, with some gold features. There were a few men at work, bringing in cabling, but there wasn't anyone else that he could see. He climbed over, crawling down the interior of the wall, and from some of his torso scales, he withdrew the camera he took with. The crescent moon area, he photographed, as he did the body of the castle from his position.

"Hey, there's a blue freak with a camera up here!" a man shouted from the roof. Corsair shot off from the barrier wall, and landed by the roof worker who saw him, returning to his black, scaly color. His chitin mask retracted, revealing a tan-colored mouth area, and in a flash he pressed his lips to the worker's. He tried to raise his hammer, but before he knew it, he was breathing in some strange air, and couldn't concentrate. His eyes closed, and the black form of Corsair let him fall to the ground.

He needed to find a way inside, and just then, a black-robed man appeared. In a flash, Corsair's lips clamped around those of the robed individual, and he also fell to the ground. The Shadow Warrior knew that he would need to find his way around and here has appeared a way. The next thing he did was to strip both the men, and in addition to the cloak, the robed man had an unused pair of surgical gloves and a black gem. The construction worker had the designs for the castle, and some other interesting plans. Both he took with, while the two men he left on top of each other, with their lips pressed together. The story that they were attacked would seem a lot harder to believe when they were found engaging in something questionable while they were meant to be working.

In his new cloak and with the new gloves, designs and plans, he descended the castle, and soon came across a blond man who looked like he must have been important. He was only wearing a suit and glasses, but he had a briefcase and an expression of superiority. Anyone else would surely have dismissed him as a confident businessman, but when you are a Shadow Warrior, you know very important people when you see them, or as they are sometimes called; 'targets'.

He followed the man, making sure that he wasn't noticed: his footsteps were quiet, his breathing was hushed and he made sure to hide when he could. The blond entered an office with a combination-locked safe, opened his briefcase, opened the safe, inserted some documents, closed the safe and turned around.

"I don't recognize you," he spoke to Corsair. "What are you doing here?"

"I actually came to find you," Corsair spoke, altering his usual speaking pattern as much as possible to sound different from his normal stark tone. "A few minutes ago I saw two of our men having intercourse on the roof."

"Troublesome. There's only supposed to be one roof worker, so it looks like I will have to discipline him. I don't believe we have met. John Smith,"

"I don't care for sentimentalities. Nicholas Hermann. I didn't come here expecting such a filthy act, so I may not be here much longer."

"Now, now, don't let one minor incident sour your time with us, Nicholas."

"Then I demand you carry out your promise of discipline immediately."

"Careful, I'm the one giving you orders. I will see to it that those people are penalized, but I am signing your paycheck."

"So be it."

Smith walked out the door, while Corsair walked down the hallway opposite his direction. When the former turned around a corner, the Shadow Warrior darted back to the room with the safe. He knew the combination Smith used, so he put on his stolen gloves, entered the same combination, took out the sealed plans, photographed them, and replaced them as they were before closing the safe and resetting it precisely to what it was left at.

Although Corsair had acquired some juicy data, there was still the matter of the organ sound of a week ago. He continued to descend down into the bowels of the castle, where he saw something sealed up in red steel. There were pipes of some kind jutting out from the top of the seal, so he jumped there to look inside… there was indeed an organ there. Now to find a place to plant a bug… there wasn't anywhere particularly hard to find, so maybe… he looked behind the organ casing structure… perfect: a small enough crack in which to plant one of these bugs. He activated one bug, and slipped it right into that small, easily overlookable crevice, and then returned to the above ground section of the castle to plan his escape.

When he appeared by one of the surface windows, he saw by looking at the sky that the sun was setting. He threw off his stolen cloak to reveal his black, scaled form, and with the plans and camera stored away inside him, he jumped to the partition wall outside and assumed its color. The final construction crews were packing up, and Corsair saw them walk out of the site. He jumped straight up, along the wall, grabbing on to the top-most area of the partition.

It wasn't hard to retrace his steps: the sun was setting in the very opposite direction from which he came. He darted again from building to building, heading straight for the station, and when he touched down on the station roof, he leaped forward in a flash into the desert, jumping forward at a great speed anew when his foot hit the ground. He knew which route the Zipang transport was taking, so he just continued leaping forward. The sun itself had disappeared, but he finally caught sight of the transport. With another few leaps, he darted towards it, closing in on it in a matter of seconds, and a final leap meant that he landed straight on its deck.

Akira ran onto the deck, and lowered her drawn kunai when she saw who it was. "Corsair, how did the mission go?"

"The fruit was plentiful," Corsair replied, giving off a faint black glow and losing his scales and mask to return to his black-clothed, hooded self. He then withdrew from his robes what he had taken and handed it to Akira.

"So what have you retrieved?"

"Building plans, and the camera has more treasure."

"I will present this to Takumi no Kami-sama when the time has come, but for now, we are dining. Come and join us."

"What of Takumi no Kami-sama, how sturdy has he been?"

"He's not doing well: he ordered a Protoss Observer to Windbloom to scan the area, and the results so far are shocking: there are Zerg bio-signatures underneath all of Windbloom. Our only saving grace is that they are cut off from the Dead Zone swarm, an isolated Brood, and the rest of them are dormant."

"What would wake them?"

"It had to be a psionic call, and the only thing that could have such power was the organ that resonated through the world."

"Interesting."

"Give your full report to Takumi tomorrow, and maybe we will see if we can get the Awakened known as Iseyada Yuto to look at these designs you have procured."

"Yuto… the Scion architect child?"

"Yes. He is regarded as a prodigy in that field among the Scion Castra Legion. If anyone can make sense of these blueprints, it is him."

"I see."

Corsair and Akira returned inside the train, and walked to the main dining room. There, Takumi and the rest of the Brotherhood of Amber were eating, and Corsair sat down and began to satiate his hunger. Although he managed well, the constant use of his Divine Form left him hungrier than usual, and although he trained himself to work with as little food as possible and fill in the gaps with hunger suppression pills, traversing long distances left him feeling drained.

The next day, Takumi heard Corsair's report and agreed to asking Yuto in Scion for help when they got back. With the way things were going, they would most likely be at the Tsuchi no Kuni border post the next day, but until they got back home, they couldn't draw anything more from Corsair's plundered treasure.


	7. Chapter 7: The Mystery of the Castle

Chapter 7: The Mystery of the Castle

By nightfall of Zipang time, the transport ferrying the delegation crossed the border guard in far-western Tsuchi no Kuni. Once they crossed into Kaminari no Kuni, and then into the Capitol province of Kami no Kuni, an aerial transport was waiting at the Palace. This jet-equipped transport, although capable of flight, was only slightly bigger than the dignitaries' litters, able to transport no more than ten people without throwing the rest in a ventral cargo hold, and even then the hold was more suited for carrying small cargo. The steamers used to travel abroad could hold much more. In addition, until the advent of the Protoss, Zipang only had one for each province barring Kori no Kuni due to the sparsity of the population there at only a handful of small villages in those frozen mountains.

Hikaru, Katsurou, Corsair and Sanae boarded the transport, while Takumi, Akira and Iori remained behind at the palace. Although the ship was going to Scion, there were some other administrative matters to sort out with regard to Zipang's management. The other four would return ahead and give Yuto the data to analyse.

The next morning, Takumi, Akira and Iori dealt with what they needed to deal with in regard to management, largely confirming crop and meat incomes, mined resource turnouts, approval for testing of an experimental Sasori walker cannon created in Kaminari no Kuni and more technology briefings from the people in Tetsu no Kuni who were reviving old weaponry from schematics provided by the Protoss. Once that tedious mess was sorted out, by early afternoon, the three of them boarded another private air transport for Scion.

Looking through the windows of that transport, it was hard not to be amazed at the scenery flying into Scion. It started with approaching the frozen mountains of Zipang's Kori no Kuni province, and watching as the ship ascended higher and higher, rising until reaching the peaks just before the clouds. One of the mountain peaks had a large hole, and the transport would fly into that hole and descend down a diagonal, yet almost vertical tunnel, where the farther down you went, the more the light leaking into the hole faded.

Deeper and deeper the transport descended, until finally emerging through another hole known as the Porta Lucis, or Gate of Light, into the hollowed out area underneath the mountain. The new sight prominently featured nine massive beams of white-sky blue light, one in the center of a large city and the other eight in the surrounding Black Forest in a circular pattern, which blazed towards the chamber ceiling and gave the impression of fluorescent lights. Although the beam of light was almost a pure white, the light given off to the surrounding area gave off a blue hue and was only strong enough to illuminate the routes people took in the city and the forest. The end product of that was the lights providing a blue tint to the chamber walls and ceiling, while creating a black/dark blue silhouette of the city and the surrounding Black Forest. On the far side, directly opposite the Porta Lucis hole, was the silhouette of the three towers of the Seminary of the Amber-Inlaid Path.

The transport continued to fly over the buildings of the city, approaching the towers and landing on a helipad right near the edge of the city on which they were built. From there, Takumi, Akira and Iori walked to the towers, where they were greeted by Hikaru, Katsurou, Corsair, Sanae, Yuto and Yua, the last four of whom bowed, and verbally welcomed the three new arrivals.

"Takumi no Kami-sama," Hikaru spoke, "…the Cardinals have expressed a wish to meet with you and the rest of the Ascended of the Brotherhood in an hour."

"Thank you, Hikaru," Takumi replied, after which everyone went their separate ways. Corsair and Yua walked to the Athenaeum, while Sanae and Yuto returned to the Sanctuary. Takumi, Akira, Iori, Hikaru and Katsurou walked towards the Magisterium, each going to their separate Havens inside. Although there were Havens inside mainly the Sanctuary, there were also some Havens in the Magisterium reserved for those who had Ascended.

Takumi entered his Haven, and he couldn't help but be in awe at the sight, even though it was simple living quarters; just featuring his Amber Shrine of five amber spikes in a semi-circle, his bed, a wardrobe and a few other necessities such as a computer. The real beauty of the room was that the light in the center of the ceiling, which would light up the room with an amber-colored shine, was off, allowing the Scion Light Beams to cast his room in a dark blue hue. It was for this reason that unless he needed to work on the computer or search for clothes, he would keep the light off and the curtains open.

He walked to his bed and lay down, gazing up at the dark blue hue of the walls and ceiling. The recent eruptions of the Zerg under Windbloom was deeply unsettling, but according to the Protoss reports, no Nydus Worms had managed to sneak past the Wall. If that held up, then the Zerg on this side had to be there since the beginning. If Windbloom was only attacked right then, that had to mean a dormant Brood, but that force was far too small for it to be a proper Brood. The fact that there was a Hybrid there was also deeply disturbing.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Who is it?" Takumi asked.

"General Akutagawa," a female voice spoke. "May I enter?"

"Yes, General."

The door opened to reveal Yua's silhouette in the passage, her light blue/cyan hair coming into view as she closed the door behind her, along with her green Steel Warrior armor and side-holstered custom rifle. "I just came to inform you that the Observer you had Golden Boy send to Windbloom has reached its target."

"Golden Boy? You mean Executor Urun?"

"Whatever. Preliminary scans came in, and so far, things are looking terrible. The Zerg are underneath pretty much all of Windbloom, but the few reprieves we have are that, given the nature of the sediment between where they are now and the surface, it will take five days for them to emerge, so we have plenty of time to send in the weapons."

"Five days… maybe there is a connection to that organ sound?"

"Really unlucky I wasn't there, though. I could have stayed with you when viewing and gotten the perfect sniping spot. I'm glad you were able to save Windbloom, though."

"So am I, General."

"Takumi-sama, can you please call me Yua when we are in private? At this rate, you are probably going to have to change your name to Tokiha Takumi no Kami Kyuseishu."

"Thanks, Yua, but I don't think I can usurp the title of Kaneshiro-sama; his work saved Zipang."

"So is yours," she replied, sitting down on the bed by his torso and placing a hand on his cheek. "So far, you've done a commendable job… as have I during the Battle for Zipang, Ta – ku – mi – no – ka – mi – sa – ma." Her thumb massaged his cheek as she spoke.

"Yu- Yua?" A blush crept onto Takumi's face.

"Just relax; I'm sure you could use this."

"Thanks, but I need to report to the Cardinals soon."

"Really? Disappointing, but I guess you need to do what you need to do. I'm nowhere near finished with you though."

"Careful, I don't want you to fight with Akira-kun again."

"She can threaten me all she wants, but we both know I'm too valuable a warrior to this country to lose. Besides, you don't like people dying for political reasons, do you?"

"T-true."

"I'll leave you to meet with the Cardinals then," Yua finished, standing up and walking to the door. "Bye, Takumi no Kami-sama"

After Yua left, so did Takumi, although taking a different path to her. He was walking from his Haven to the Cardinal Chambers. Outside, he met with Hikaru and Katsuroi, also waiting, while Iori and Akira came soon afterwards.

The five of them present, they stepped into the holy chambers and approached the five Cardinals, who were sitting at a counter on the opposite end of the room: with their backs to the blue glow of the cavern wall outside.

"May the stone of life bless us with your guidance, O Holy Cardinals of the Amber-Inlaid Path," the five Ascended Brotherhood members spoke in unison.

"May the stone of life illuminate the paths we take, sacred Brothers and Sisters of the Amber-Inlaid Path," the Cardinals chanted. "Firstly, there is one issue we need to discuss, Brother Takumi."

"Yes, Your Eminence?" Takumi asked.

"Two names have appeared in the scrolls of those who have taken the Oath of Secrecy: they are Natsuki Kruger and Shizuru Viola. Can you explain why they have appeared so?"

"That is true, but under the circumstances it was unavoidable. Zerg have appeared in Windbloom Kingdom to the west, and Otomes were involved in helping us pacify the forces that emerged."

"Was it just the two?"

"No, there were two Otome trainees involved in the battle, and one of the Otome I had swear the Oath was not involved at the time."

"Reckless use of the Amber Scribe Rings, Brother Takumi. Why did you let the children go unsworn?"

"Hikaru and Katsurou took them out of the area before I divulged what information I did. I had a feeling that I couldn't trust them to keep an Oath of Secrecy, or else as is customary with Oathbreakers, we would have had to remove them from society when they broke the Oath."

"What information did you divulge to the two Otome you did swear to secrecy?"

"I only told them of our name, and how we had used amber to unlock the hidden powers of our genes to be able to combat the Zerg Swarm. I did not give them any information regarding membership number, command structure or location, so Scion should be safe."

"We see. We thank you for guarding your gift of information to these people, although the actions you took are still risky. There is another issue we need to address: a Frumentarius bug has been activated, and the Legion has tracked it to central Windbloom."

"That is in relation to the loud organ we heard a week ago, Your Eminence. I was in Windbloom before the other Brothers and Sisters arrived, and during my travels, I was shooed away from the Queen's castle, although pursued by someone using a SLAVE creature. That aroused my suspicions such that I asked Corsair to investigate, and bug the castle."

"According to the reports, there is something in the castle's basement that is giving off trace amounts of psionic energy at present, but it can generate much more if the other readings are to be believed."

"Something has just occurred to me, Your Eminence. General Akutagawa relayed to me a Protoss Observer report that the Zerg are underneath almost all of Windbloom, but that it would take five days for roused Zerg to reach the surface. I think that the psionic energy emitter, whatever it is, can rouse that Brood."

"Worrying… we were only just able to hold the large Swarm back with your Wall, but the presence of Broods on this side is extremely disturbing. If that Brood is asleep, then there shouldn't be a need to worry. If the emitter activates, we will need to be ready to leave for the Kingdom at a moment's notice."

"I agree, but my country of Zipang has vowed not to interfere in the affairs of the Western Nations. The council of Daimyos is unanimous in the opinion that to intervene would bring harm to us."

"One final matter we wish to discuss, Sacred Followers, is that of the Awakened Corsair."

"Does something intrigue Your Eminence," Akira questioned.

"Yes, Sister Akira. The time has almost come for Corsair to take the Tests of Ascension, and when that time comes, we want to hear your judgments in addition to our own."

"We would be honored, and I want to see how he does, as he shares a profession with me."

"Indeed. This conclave is adjourned, and may the stone of life guide you."

Takumi and the other four members of the Brotherhood walked out of the Cardinals' Chambers, where they found Corsair waiting directly outside. "What have they made of the bug?" he asked, his voice still stern.

"It appears to be a psi-emitter of some sort. It is probably what roused the Zerg in Windbloom," Akira responded.

"Disturbing…"

"The Cardinals are convinced that as long as the emitter doesn't activate-"

"It will."

"Why do you say that?"

"Folly and greed, Okuzaki-dono."

"You make a good point. The Western nations have destroyed themselves in the past, and if this is a weapon, then there's nothing to say they won't do so again."

"Indeed. Farewell."

With that, Corsair vanished. The next three days passed by quickly, but on the fourth, the Awakened known as Iseyada Yuto no Kori requested the Ascended of the Brotherhood, along with Corsair and Yua, to meet him in his Athenaeum Haven. Takumi, Akira and Iori were the first there, who the blue-grey haired short child in a yellow toga. "Ave, Brother Takumi," he spoke.

"Greetings, Yuto-san," Takumi responded.

"I see Brothers Hikaru, Katsurou and Sisters Sanae and Yua approaching, but where is Brother Corsair?"

"Ave, Yuto," a voice spoke from behind him. Corsair had already gotten inside. The other four arrived soon afterward.

"Anyway if you all… will… come inside, some of my research… has borne fruit." Once everyone was inside, Yuto spoke again. "I have… come to a preliminary conclusion regarding the data you have provided."

"And?"

"Based purely on the schematics, and the sheer detail that has gone into them, I can only conclude that the Schwartz group that is building the castle is also arming it with a cannon."

"So the Queen isn't just vain, she's paranoid?"

"I doubt it. The items you photographed in the safe show among them the fact that Queen Mashiro is not aware of the construction plans or their presence. The Otomes are also unaware of their activities."

"A coup?"

"Possibly, though it is difficult to determine anything at this point without a clear history of the organization. There is one anomaly I wasn't able to solve though: they have what I can only ascertain to be a power core in the upper reaches of the castle, yet they have plans to fill it with a bio-preservative liquid in preparation for a body."

"For what?"

"I don't know. I am not sure what exactly can turn a human body into a power source, but I cannot make any requests to the Frumentarii."

"Just throwing this out there," Yua interrupted, "…but does your Legion know that you are among us?"

"They do, Sister Yua, but they don't care: I'm too much of a heretic. They only care about me when they need me for some design project and the other architect legionaries are busy. The only reason I was part of the design team that built this place was because I was pushing for an assignment for some time."

"Wait, so the Seminary?"

"…is so far my finest piece of work. The major parts of this place were founded on designs that I drew up. My first year of work with the Castra Legion was marked by that project. Since then, I haven't had much to do, just examine the rare design of a new building that happens comes my way."

"So you've got it easy here? Why do I feel envious of you?"

"It isn't as enjoyable as you make it out to be, Sister Yua. The Castra Legion is the most industrious of the three Legions, so there is always something to do, be it from maintenance to research, or even construction and design. There's lots of work, but the Centurions never see fit to send any my way most of the time; it is usually when everyone else is busy. So despite my intelligence and love of the work, I am persecuted. Even the Frumentarii, who share my interest about the outside, would rather have nothing to do with me."

"But you can still raise the Frumentarii to look into this, can't you?"

"They're a different Legion, and I'm only a recruit legionary in my Legion, so I cannot hope to influence the Frumentarii Legion with my position, even as a son of one of their members. I'd need to be at least a Centurion for them to take heed, and even then, I already said I am too much of a heretic for them to listen to me. If you want covert operations in that country, you will have to beseech the Shadow Warriors of the Zipang Imperial Army."

"So any other leads on this building?"

"I'll look over things again, but at this stage, I don't have any theories. If I can solve that bio-preservative mystery, I might get somewhere."

"Okay. Best of luck with that, Iseyada-kun. Bye!"

"Vale, Sister Yua, everyone," Yuto spoke as the other eight of the Brotherhood walked away from the Seminary. The treasure trove that they got from looking at his findings was interesting in that the castle cannon was unprecedented. They also had to look out for that one other feature he mentioned, the fact that a castle would use a body.

"We have to do something," Sanae spoke. "We know now what they are doing, so we can't just sit back!"

"Inadvisable," Corsair stated.

"Corsair, we can't just leave the West to its fate!"

"We can, Funabashi," Akira interjected, "…and we will. Kaneshiro-sama did what he did precisely because of what's happening now: they are destroying themselves. Takumi, don't let them destroy Zipang as well."

"Okuzaki! How can you say such a thing?!"

"She has a point," Yua reasoned. "Kaneshiro saved Zipang from destruction by cutting us off. She's kinda justified in saying we shouldn't get ourselves killed over Western nations crossing swords."

"Akutagawa, you too?"

"Stop and think for a minute, Sanae-chan. There are other things to consider. We only know that a certain group of people is constructing a castle with a weapon in Windbloom. They haven't taken any illegal action yet. If we charge in there and destroy the castle, we will be seen as invaders and Zipang will have to cope with invasion from the West."

"So we do nothing?"

"Until we have solid proof that they're undertaking illegal activity or they make a move, yes. You heard Iseyada-kun, we know they are doing, but we don't know why they are doing it. Until we can determine such a motive, we have no grounds for intervention."

"I'm sorry, Funabashi-san," Takumi finally spoke. "…but I agree with General Akutagawa. We will not interfere with the affairs of the Western nations for the moment, but I will request Urun to have his Observer monitor Windbloom. I will let you know if any incidents occur."

"Thank you, Takumi no Kami-sama," Sanae said, her voice having regained some composure.

More time passed, and the Observer reports relayed by Urun indicated that the Castle was almost complete. Yuto was still having trouble finding out the remaining mysteries of the facility, and it wouldn't have been possible to get a message to Windbloom or Garderobe fast enough, even with the abilities of someone like Corsair. The day had also come for him to take the Tests of Ascension; the ritual to determine if an Awakened member of the Brotherhood should be considered Ascended.

Corsair stepped into the Chamber of Ascension. It was a room in the Magisterium that was forbidden to all but the Awakened that would be tested, Ascended and Cardinals. There were fifteen Amber Spikes, triple the length and four times the width of the average Amber Shrine's spikes arranged in a circle four times the diameter of the Amber Shrine's semi-circle, and a flight of stairs to a raised circular platform in the center, the beginning of which being where a sixteenth Amber Spike would have been. Corsair ascended the flight of stairs, stepped onto the circular platform in the center of the Amber Spike arrangement and, with black lightning enveloping his body for a second, reappeared in his black-scaled, bone-masked Divine Form. The stairs separated from the platform and withdrew into the ground, after which a sixteenth Amber Spike rose up, closing the circle. All of the spikes started pulsing with electricity. Soon, bolts of amber lightning hit the platform, and electricity continued to stream there. Immediately after the electricity hit, a large mystical orb started growing, the platform directly at its core, and continued to grow and expand, stopping just before contacting the Spikes. The Ascended knew that inside the Orb was in a very literal sense a world of its own. This was it, the tests had begun, and by looking at the 'Amber Orb', the Cardinals watched his progress. It was only to their eyes that Corsair's progress could be monitored.

The first two tests focused a lot on what was taught to the Awakened, especially handling the battles the way the Brotherhood were taught. These teachings taught you to find your opponent's weakness and exploit it, to be aware of your surroundings and how you can utilize them, to be aware of your powers and how you can efficiently utilize them, to be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses and to always be aware of your opponent's actions. These tests especially emphasized the need to sometimes do away with threats quickly enough that you can move on to more pressing matters, for in those instances, if you took time to gloat over your enemies, it could very well cost you dearly. The first test itself seemed to focus on your strongest areas; the world reflected had a problem you had to get around using your strongest ability or area of expertise.

After Corsair completed the first test, the Orb that held him rose to the top of the Amber Spikes, its vertical height such that the platform in the center should have been on the same level as the Spikes' tips. The angle of the lightning bolts joining the Orb to the Spikes was now perpendicular to the spikes themselves. The stop of the Orb's ascension signified the beginning of the second test. The Chairs the Cardinals were sitting in, the Rising Throne also rose as the Orb did, now having risen to the same height. This test, for the Awakened, focused on your weakest areas. You were placed in a world where your abilities were at their weakest or most ineffective, and you had to get around that somehow, using what you had been taught.

Once the second test was completed, the Orb then rose until the lightning bolts angled at 45 degrees, hovering above the spikes this time. This test was among the most grueling of all; you were confronted by a phantom with the exact same abilities as you, and you had to overcome that phantom. Only the Awakened being tested knew what form that would take.

A while later the Amber Orb disintegrated, leaving Corsair on the revealed circular platform. This platform was now inside what was previously an empty circle linked to an Amber-colored stairway with Amber Spires for guardrails, the Stairway of Ascension, leading to a position directly above where the Cardinals used to be, only close to the roof of the Chamber of Ascension now. The five of them had already risen up into what was an empty crevice when the Orb rose to its last position. The Cardinals were in agreement, as were the five Ascended Followers who were there: Corsair had earned the right to join the ranks of the Ascended. If he had failed, then the Orb would have descended back to the floor. Corsair stepped off the platform and ascended the stairway until he had reached the Cardinals. He came to stand on an Amber circle that touched the area of the Rising Throne, in easy reach of its occupants

The Cardinals instructed "Kneel, Corsair." He complied, and they stood up, removed his Amber Tear Necklace and placed it in a circular stand directly in front of the Central chair on the Rising Throne. "Thou hast triumphed in the Sacred Trials and proven thyself worthy of Ascension!" they spoke. Sides of the pillar opened up, revealing two Amber Tears on short chains, chained to the surface itself. "Thou hast proven that thou'st ready to not merely walk, but stride on the Amber-Inlaid Path!" The link of the chain connected to each Tear split open on one side after which they were slotted into a crevice on the Necklace, on opposite sides, next to the three that were already there. This new Amber Tear Necklace was then lowered onto the neck of a kneeling Corsair. The Cardinals boomed "Now rise, Corsair, Ascended Brother of the Amber-Inlaid Path!" Corsair stood tall, the five tears of his Amber Tear Necklace shining. "As one who has Ascended, you have earned yourself a place in the Magisterium, and for easy proximity, you will be required to move there. We can provide help moving your possessions if you so require."

"I won't," Corsair stated.

"If you so wish, like what your Brothers Hikaru and Katsurou have done, you can tutor the Acolyte and Awakened Brothers and Sisters."

"I won't."

"We will require you for possible callings to the overworld."

"So be it."

"Welcome to the ranks of the Ascended of the Brotherhood of the Amber-Inlaid Path. Now take your place on the Amber-guided lift on which you ascended and return to your compatriots."

Corsair returned to the platform, after which it descended back down to ground level, where the sixteenth Amber Spike vanished and the staircase resurfaced. Once he returned and acknowledged his now-equals, he returned to his Haven in the Sanctuary to clear it out. This was the first Ascension in a while, but there would undoubtedly be more…


	8. Chapter 8: The Pain of a Refugee

Chapter 8: The Pain of a Refugee

In Windbloom, the day had come for the unveiling of the new Fuka Castle of Queen Mashiro Blan de Windbloom, shortly before a graduation battle of Otome. Corsair's bug in the basement was still relaying data back to Scion, and Urun's observer was still in orbit over the city.

In Scion, deep underneath Zipang's Kori no Kuni, the Cardinals of the Amber-Inlaid Path had called a meeting with all of the Ascended of the Brotherhood, including Corsair, and also Sanae, who was one rank below them at the level of Awakened.

"Brothers and Sisters," the Cardinals began. "…the bug's readings from the basement of the castle in Windbloom indicate that the structure is complete."

"Like the designs?" Corsair asked.

"Yes, Brother Corsair, the sightings by the Observer match the designs. Brother Yuto has, as you know, forwarded us his theories, and energy readings recorded by the bug signal that there is an activating weapon as he has theorized."

"Anything else?"

"It was a stroke of pure luck, but we have picked up some transmissions by the bug."

"Luck how?"

"The Frumentarii Legion bugs are only set to record either energy output or communications. What you took must have been fruit of a collaborative effort by the Castra and Frumentarii Legions to create a more sophisticated bug. The transmissions it picked up have indicated that there is going to be a coup in the country, for which they will use the cannon."

"Do we have enough time to warn the Queen and the Otome?" Takumi asked.

"No, Brother Takumi, we cannot get a message to either group in time; they have turned the Queen's unveiling into a trap. It will take too long for anything that can relay the warning to reach Windbloom."

"But why would Schwartz suddenly take a massive risk such as a coup?" Akira questioned. "Won't it leave them exposed?"

"Very possibly, Sister Akira, but that exposure could be a part of a greater plan. There has been some chatter about the coup being the cover for a takeover by another nation. We do not know who is taking over though, but they will supposedly drive them out and be celebrated as heroes. Brother Corsair."

"Yes?" Corsair spoke.

"We are going to give you a long-range communicator. They are only two-way lines, so the transmissions cannot be intercepted, originally designed by the Frumentarii to allow for long-distance communication. We need you to go to Windbloom and monitor the situation, but do not openly provoke anyone. We need you to remain as discrete as possible, but keep an eye on the organization."

"Yes. I will need to stop somewhere first."

"Where?"

"The Yami no Kuni Shadow Warrior dojo. I need hunger and thirst suppression pills as well as multivitamins, and since the takeover of Mizu no Kuni, that is where those Shadow Warriors who have that specialty have relocated."

"Understood, but once you have what you need, we need you to depart for Windbloom immediately.

"Lord, can I borrow a Wraith?"

"Yes, Corsair, but why?" Takumi asked, as a Cardinal handed Corsair the communicator..

"Their speed, and their cloak. Stealth approaching Windbloom will be welcome."

"We have a better suggestion," the Cardinals spoke. "We can arrange for one of our Umbra air transports to take you. It has got a cloak as well, and its speed and optimal aerodynamic shape is perfect for traveling long distance fast. It has been used to ferry Frumentarii to other areas of Earl for covert reconnaissance, and it can get you to Windbloom by the day's end."

"Thank you, Your Eminence," Corsair curtly stated.

"It will arrive at the Seminary Landing area within the next five minutes, and it will take you wherever you need to go. May the Amber guide you, Brother."

In an instant, Corsair disappeared, after which the Cardinals continued. "There is one other area of importance we have to discuss, and that is why Sister Sanae needed to be here. Sister, you are aware you are to take the Tests of Ascension tomorrow?"

"I am aware, Your Eminence," Sanae spoke. "I am prepared for whatever trials I may face."

"So be it, but know that we may need to send you off on short notice as well. Brother Corsair was already mostly prepared for this, but we need to make sure you know what is at stake."

"I will be ready."

"Brother Hikaru and Brother Katsurou will be departing, as if there is indeed a coup, there will sooner or later be refugees. We need someone to infiltrate their ranks and make sure they survive. If you ascend tomorrow, we wish for you to accompany them."

"Understood, Your Eminence. I'm the only one among us who is truly a refugee, so I know what they will feel."

"Very well, Sister Sanae. This conclave is adjourned."

As the five Ascended members there left, Takumi and Iori accompanied Sanae for a few corridors before she stopped walking. "What is it, Takumi no Kami-sama?" she asked, clearly frustrated.

"Funabashi-san, are you okay?" Takumi replied, concern in his voice.

"I hate it when people lose their homes and families. For quite a bit of my life, I've tried to be a surrogate family for so many children who have lost their families. The Zerg forced us to abandon our homes in Mizu no Kuni, and now factions in the West are planning to destroy more lives. I understand that Kaneshiro-sama saved us from walking a similar path, but we can't just sit this one out!"

"It hurts me as well. How people can knowingly cause others to suffer is one thing that saddens and stupefies me."

"Just give me time for a good night's sleep, Takumi. I need to be alone for now."

"O…okay, Funabashi-san."

Sanae resumed walking until she was out of sight, while Takumi and Iori waited. "That loss weighs heavily on her," he spoke. "I question the Cardinals' judgment in sending her to the refugees."

"She is the only one of us who can relate to that feeling. I don't like the fact that they have reopened old wounds, but she is the only one who can understand that pain."

"That is where you are wrong, Takumi no Kami-sama. I was born in Hikari no Kuni, and as you are aware, it was the first province to fall when the Protoss invaded."

"I am aware of that, yes."

"What you don't know is that my family resisted the Protoss takeover of the province. We were a proud line of Steel Warriors from Hikari no Kuni, our skills with rifles being the best in the province famed for the best Steel Warrior riflemen, and I was hoping to become one myself. But on the eve of my acceptance into the dojo, the Protoss invaded. My family was the first in a long line of casualties who didn't surrender, and I was forced to feign loyalty to their killers if I wanted to survive, and in so doing, abolish my dream."

"I'm… so sorry about that, Iori."

"The same thing will most likely happen to the people of Windbloom should they choose not to cooperate with the invaders. But even if the Protoss are saving us from the Zerg, I can never forgive them for what they have done. Urun has the blood of Adachi Steel Warriors on his hands, and I can't shake the feeling that sooner or later he will spill more blood of Zipang."

"Are you sure?"

"No matter how I try and rationalize the thought away, it keeps coming back. Tokiha Takumi no Kami Tadayori, I need you to promise me something."

"Okay, but promise you what?"

"Should Urun reopen hostilities with us, I need you to promise me to not roll over. We need to focus on the Zerg, but if the Protoss attack us, we cannot let them get away with it."

"I promise, Iori. We are much better prepared now than before, and I know Urun wants to stop the Zerg, but if he should betray us, we are honor-bound to strike back."

Elsewhere, the sun had just set for Windbloom, and a large, triangular, flat shape was by the ground near a destroyed Windbloom station. Corsair, in his black, scaly form, shot off from a rear exit in the hull, and darted through the rubble of the station into the city. He leapt from building to building once again until he saw the unveiled castle of the vain queen. There were walkers patrolling the city, and he heard gossip among the citizenry that the army belonged to the Artai Principality. There were one or two airborne SLAVEs flying around, but they hadn't noticed him.

The next day, in Scion, Sanae entered the Chamber of Ascension and took her place on the platform in the center of the Amber Spike circle, red flames engulfing her and leaving her with her skin red, her hair and nails scarlet and a vermillion kimono with a hole that allowed her new bat-like wings, red-boned with scarlet in the flesh of the wings. Lightning shot towards the platform and created the Amber Orb, beginning the Tests of Ascension. The staircase withdrew into the ground, and a sixteenth Amber Spike rose up, closing the circle.

The Amber Orb rose to the level of the spikes, but then to the level above the spikes, disintegrating after a long period of time and leaving Sanae, gasping for breath, and on her knees. She stood up, and in a flash of red flames, reappeared as her normal, black-haired self, and ascended the stairs to the waiting Cardinals, stopping to kneel in the Amber circle by their throne.

"Sister Funabashi Sanae," the Cardinals spoke, "…thou hast triumphed in the Sacred Trials and proven thyself worthy of Ascension! Thou hast proven that thy is ready to not merely walk, but stride on the Amber-Inlaid Path!" The compartment on their throne opened, and they took Sanae's Amber Tear Necklace with three tears, fitted it with two more tears to increase the number to five, and lowered it back down onto her neck. "Now rise, Funabashi Sanae, Ascended Sister of the Amber-Inlaid Path!"

Sanae stood up, and she was informed that she would move into a Haven in the Magisterium, with help being provided if she deemed it necessary. Right then, the Cardinals received a status update from Corsair that Artai seemed to be consolidating control over Windbloom: the many riverside shacks of the poor were being demolished, and the residence were being forced out of the city. There were also raids on those enclaves of the poor to find out where Queen Mashiro was.

"We thank you for this information, Brother Corsair," the Cardinals spoke into the receiver, and then turning to the Ascended in the room. "Brothers and Sisters, the time we predicted has arrived. Brother Hikaru and Brother Katsurou, get ready to depart. Sister Sanae, as you have Ascended, we need you to go with them. We will manage the move into your new Haven and direct you to it upon your return. We apologize for the lack of notice, but we have no time to waste."

"I got ready in preparation last night, Your Eminence," Sanae spoke, her voice shaking slightly. "

"Are you sound?"

"I'm fine. I- I just hate these moments of sadness."

"Should you feel compromised by this, Brother Hikaru and Brother Katsuoru can go by themselves."

"I'm fine, Your-"

"I have to agree with Their Eminence, Funabashi," Iori interrupted. "You aren't ready for this. It's causing you too much pain to think about."

"Adachi, I'm fine!"

"I second Iori's motion," Akira spoke.

"We find ourselves at a deadlock here then," the Cardinals announced. "You all feel we should not send Sister Funabashi on this calling due to being emotionally conflicted. We shall put it to a vote. Should you among the six Ascended here feel that we should retract her from this calling, speak now."

"I support this notion," Iori announced, raising his hand.

"I second it," Akira followed.

"I too feel uncomfortable with the idea of sending her somewhere if she is not mentally stable. It could only increase the pain she has suffered," Takumi declared, raising his hand. Hikaru and Katsurou kept silent.

"Very well, there are three out of the six gathered here that think you are not ready yet, Sister Funabashi," the Cardinals announced, with Takumi, Akira and Iori lowering their hands. "Should you feel that she is ready for such a calling, speak now."

Sanae raised her hand. A few minutes passed…

"I think it is right that she accompany us," Katsurou declared, raising his hand. "As she herself mentioned, she is also a refugee. They can sympathize with her, or at very least, she can know how they will function. You need also remember that she took in children who were refugees from other smaller wars. Her heart is with them, and for that reason, she is more than justified to try to aid them. I second the motion to have her join us."

"As do I," Hikaru also declared, raising his hand as well. "We will be with her should she need support, be it emotional or combative. We are Brothers and Sisters bonded by the stone of life and awakened to what lies within us. Let her come with us on this calling and see if she is truly ready. Should we feel otherwise, we can send for her to be returned here for recovery."

"We are at an impasse yet again," the Cardinals noted. "Should any of you wish to change your statements, please do so now."

"Takumi!" Sanae shouted. "You of all people should know that we eventually have to face our inner demons. You were afraid to take up the task of leading Zipang when you were required to do so, but you did so despite your fears. Don't stop me from facing my problems; I need to conquer them now by going with Kada Hikaru-dono and Kitao Katsurou-dono!"

"Funabashi, how dare you speak like tha-" Akira started, but Takumi waved her down.

"She is right, Akira-kun. This is something she needs to face. As she said, I had to become Shogun despite my initial reservations. Hikaru-san and Katsurou-san can protect her if they run into trouble. I still don't like this, but if she feels she needs to do this, we shouldn't try to stop her. Your Eminence, I retract my previous vote and abstain from the decision."

"Very well," the Cardinals spoke again. "We have three people who think Sister Sanae is ready for this, and two who think she isn't. For now, we will allow her to go with Brother Hikaru and Brother Katsurou. You will all receive the long-range communicators, but should you feel she is compromised during the mission, inform us so we can send extraction. Otherwise, we expect reports on a daily basis. The Umbra craft that ferried Corsair to Windbloom has since made it back to Scion and is refueling, but it will meet you at the Seminary landing pad. This conclave is adjourned, and may the Amber guide you all."

As everyone left the Chamber of Ascension, Sanae whispered a 'thank you' inside Takumi's ear. He wasn't comfortable with something like this, but she made sure he knew that this was a trial she had to face.

At the landing pad, they found the Umbra aircraft ready, with Yuto standing right by it. Before returning to the Sanctuary, he requested that Katsurou have the pilot fly by Windbloom's Castle and get a good look at it. Once that was out of the way, Katsurou, Hikaru and Sanae boarded and were on their way out of the Porta Lucis entry point, and to Windbloom.


	9. Chapter 9: Befriending an enemy

Chapter 9: Befriending an enemy

After returning to his Haven in the Sanctuary, Yuto returned to looking over the castle designs again. There had to be something that he was missing; something he had overlooked. He didn't know why they were going to use a body in a bio-preservative as a power source, or for what. Maybe he needed another break from this, but it was exactly this that kept him away from another, draining truth. What was that body capsule for?

In Zipang's Kami no Kuni, the Capitol province, at the Imperial Palace, Takumi was sorting through more paperwork. Some engineers and scientists from Tetsu no Kuni had sent him some plans for what they called the 'Dai Sasori' walker tank, which was twice as large as a normal Sasori, but featured heavy weapon crews along its back which could shoot at ground-based and flying targets, and which had an experimental particle beam weapon as its rear-mounted main gun. He saw that Yua had been one of the people overseeing this project, and that she had also designed with that a redirection matrix that could be attached to an aircraft which would receive the particle beam discharge and fire it in a different direction. Finally, with that, came a remote targeting system that could feed co-ordinates to the redirection drone.

After he green-lighted the plans, he was contacted by the Tsuchi no Kuni Western Border Post. An Otome had arrived there by car, and was requesting permission to meet with the shogun to discuss important matters. Takumi ordered that she be brought to the Imperial Palace in Kami no Kuni, but that she was to be under Steel Warrior guard. The Otome, a blonde woman with a slight ponytail, arrived at the Palace two hours later and introduced herself as the Galactic Aquamarine Otome Sara Gallagher, the first of the Five Columns of Garderobe. She was working in the Eastern Kingdoms to strengthen the relationship Garderobe had with those countries by lending her services as needed to their leaders.

Akira was quick to brush off her offer, scoffing that the help Otome provided usually resulted in wastelands, but Iori, also at the Palace at the time, suggested that since she took the trouble to travel to Zipang, she be shown the various problems it has had to endure, from the Protoss occupation of Hikari no Kuni in the north, the Zerg control of Mizu no Kuni in the east, and closer to the Capitol, Tetsu no Kuni's technology reconstruction projects. The standing army of Zipang, combined with the Tetsu no Kuni weapons and Protoss forces, gave her the idea that, if he was so inclined, Takumi could probably take over the rest of Earl.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do," Sara asked at one point.

"Yes, Otome, your help is not needed here," Akira hissed through clenched teeth.

"Wait a second, Akira-kun," Takumi interrupted. "Gallagher-dono…"

"Call me Sara, and tell your bodyguard that she had better stop treating guess like unwelcome trash-"

"You ARE unwelcome-" Akira started again, but Takuni waved her down, asking her what Sara knew about possible uses for cadavers.

"A fair bit, why?"

"In that case, there's someone who needs your help…" Takumi spoke, before arranging for a Zipang aerial transport.

In Scion, in hopes of a reprieve, Yuto had taken to the Athenaeum of the Seminary, where he entered a training arena. He started hissing through teeth, with tears building up in his eyes, as his pale white skin sprouted yellow branches of a crystalline substance. Not his face, nor feet, not even his hands, were spared as the crystalline branches wrapped around his skin and sprouted chunks of crystals. His clothes were covered by the golden-yellow crystal, and tears fell from his face as crystal built up on the cheeks, jaw, chin, forehead, skull, and masses of crystal were building up on the rest of his body. His crystalline forearms had much more mass to them that made the upper arms bones in comparison. He was now a golden-yellow crystalline humanoid, with thick pillars of crystal for the legs and forearms, with the crystalline hands and feet seeming miniscule by comparison. He also had a large crystal-encased torso with enough spikes and shards to rival a porcupine sprouting from his back, and his head had, for the most part, become a sleek, streamlined golden-yellow shape.

In his new golden form, he held his right hand out, and from the crystal pillar that was his arm, new crystal began growing out from that. In around ten seconds, the crystal had formed into a ball of spikes, which he threw at one of the practice targets. The ball shot through the air, but fell short of the target and rolled the rest of the way, crashing into the wooden support-frames, whereupon it exploded. Shards of yellow crystal flew in every direction, but within a second, the shards still airborne fell towards the ground, disintegrating into wisps of smoke.

Some of the crystal shrapnel was in Yuto's crystal torso, which had one or two little fractures in it. Some more crystal grew from his arms, forming into two crystalline gladius blades that he held in his hands. As he felt them, memories came streaming into his mind, of some of the children in Scion mocking his caring nature, belittling his lack of skill with the gladius, and labeling him weak for not engaging in physical exercise. More memories came in, where he just asked a few questions, and all of a sudden he was a 'combat practice target' for the children who would proceed to punch him repeatedly. His own family even disapproved of his interests.

No, he couldn't hold these swords, much less wield them. He pressed the flat areas of each blade against his crystal torso, where they suddenly started deforming and becoming yellow crystalline spikes within fifteen seconds. Just then, the spikes shot from his body, spraying the area in front of him with yellow crystal projectiles, leaving him with just his torso before he restructured the gladii. Looking at the three targets ahead of him: each one had splinters of yellow crystal embedded in the body, but almost none of the shards hit the centre.

No, this activity of exercise was doing nothing except bringing up painful memories of his childhood and his inability to live up to the qualities that people of Scion held as central to life. The crystal all over his form began cracking, the cracks quickly speeding all over his body, and in the next second, it all evaporated into yellow wisps of gas that vanished in the next instant.

He walked out of the Athenaeum training arena, his mind constantly plagued by the attitude of the people of Scion towards him. The Gladius Legion practically hated him for his perceived heresy, the Frumentarii were almost never around and seemed to avoid him anyway, and the Castra Legion, despite his aptitude with their work, seemed to only associate with him when they must or when they need to shut him up. Even among the Brotherhood of the Amber-Inlaid Path, he seemed to have difficulty talking to people, usually only being approached by them if they needed him. To their credit though, they actually took note of his expertise better than his own Legion, but it was still severely demoralizing. The Legions' lack of interest in him had pretty much led him to join the Brotherhood right under their noses, and the centurions didn't seem to care. Even here, he was beginning to question if he would find what he is looking for.

As he walked across the grounds to the Sanctuary, he noticed an Umbra landing at the Seminary starport. Must have just been Takumi from Zipang returning to Scion, so it probably wasn't important. He continued into the Sanctuary tower and up to his Haven, where in the hopes of finding some reprieve without unpleasant memories sneaking up on him, he took out a piece of clay and started massaging it with his hands. Just him, molding this material into whatever shape he willed. This was much better; no bad memories, no reminders of physical ineptitude, but just him, the clay and whatever shape he wanted it to take in his mind. Maybe an arch? His hands started tearing away at the clay, pressing some of it together, placing it in one space before moving on to the next. More clay, press it hard, mold it into shape and insert it into place.

Knock, knock, knock...

"Yes?" Yuto asked, quickly trying to wash and wipe off the clay on his hands

"Yuto-san, it's me," Takumi's voice came from the other side of the door.

"Ave, Brother Takumi? What is it?"

"I've brought someone who can possibly help you with your quandary on the Windbloom Castle."

Yuto opened the door, seeing Takumi, Iori and... and... an... Otome, his attention drawn to the jeweled earring on her left ear, and what little color he had draining from his skin. "How... How did...?"

"Don't worry, Sara-dono here has an answer to the question that you have been struggling with.

"But how... how did... she get past the Legions?" Scion was supposed to be impenetrable to her kind, and yet she managed to penetrate this far?

"We veiled her, and she came off at the Seminary's landing area."

Yuto was still frozen with dread, as they had smuggled in an Otome. Someone who, if she was so inclined, could easily incapacitate him. He had almost no formal combat training, and in front of him was one of the Meisters he read about that had lots of such training: a supersoldier against the likes of him... he wouldn't stand a chance.

"Yuto-san, are you okay?"

Was he okay? He had to admit, while he did question the beliefs of Scion about Otome, some of it was still drilled into him, and seeing one up close seemed to be especially intimidating. "I... I don't know. I think... I just need a moment... to collect myself..."

"If it's Sara-san you are worried about, she isn't going to hurt you."

"You... you are sure?"

"Yes. Takumi no Kami-sama told me you needed help with something, and that only I can help you," Sara spoke. "I just wish I knew why you're so scared of me."

"No Otome... has ever entered this place... and lived to tell about it."

"Takumi no Kami-sama, can you leave me with him? I want to give him some time to calm down before I hear of the problem."

"Can you... rather tell me... your solution now?"

"Let me know what the problem is first. I'm sure Takumi no Kami-sama has work to do."

"I'm uneasy about this... but okay... many thanks, Brother Takumi."

"You seem quite unsettled, Yuto-san. Are you sure you will be okay?" Takumi asked.

"Hopefully yes. I will take your word regarding the... guest."

"I have to go now, but let me know if anything happens. Goodbye, Yuto-san."

"Vale, Brother Takumi."

Sara entered his Haven as Takumi and Iori left, but noticing that he was still quivering with what appeared to be some degree of fear, she immediately asked "Why so scared of me? Is there something amiss about Otome in Zipang that I don't know about?"

"Zipang, I don't know... but here... you're lucky to be alive."

"Why is here different to Zipang? We're inside Takumi no Kami-sama's borders."

"That may be the case... but Scion answers to no government... other than its own Tribunal. The shogun of Zipang... has no sway here."

"Still, why do you say that I'm lucky to be alive?"

"The people of Scion have a fierce hatred of Otome, and the Gladius Legion always monitors ships dropping people off at the Starport. Should they find an Otome among the crew, they will execute her slowly. They are well-trained enough that they can out-fight an Otome and subdue her quickly."

"Even with her Robe active?"

"I can't go into details here, but my Legion... the Castra Legion... had a hand in creating a countermeasure that effectively jams the GEM signal, rendering Robes useless here."

"So why did you join a Legion? Do you have something against Otome as well?"

"I was required to do so when I came of age at sixteen years. As for my feelings on Otome, I don't really know what to think. I just made the mistake of asking people openly why they hate them so, and if the Otome are really the monsters that everyone here claims they are."

"How was that a mistake?"

"I was already physically weak and poor in combat enough that I was looked down upon by many people, especially the people aspiring to be in the Gladius. Only if you are a member of the Frumentarii Legion is it acceptable to hold interest in the outside world, and even then you keep it to yourself. So as punishment for my heresy of questioning their vilification of the Otome, I received a large number of beatings, and not just from the other children of Scion; some of the adults also visited punishment on me, mainly those from the Gladius. Otherwise, I'm just left alone, to the point that I think nobody wants anything to do with me. I think it's the main reason why I haven't been yanked away from the Brotherhood by the Castra Legion or given much in the way of work."

"But if you don't hate Otome, why are you still scared around me?"

"Today was my first time meeting one of you, and I didn't know what to think. I only questioned if Otome deserved to be vilified so, but I didn't know what to expect otherwise. I am just thankful that you seem to be a good person."

"Thank you. I might want to continue this chat later, but anyway, what is this problem that you need help with?"

"Right, that," Yuto noted, showing his readings on a computer screen. "The Brotherhood managed to recently bug Windbloom's Fuka Castle, and from what I have been able to gather, whoever was in charge of the castle has outfitted it with some sort of siege cannon, but what I do not get is that there is one device that uses a dead body in a bio-preservative liquid as a power source."

"So that's why I wasn't able to Materialize my Robe!" Sara stated in shock. "If you are describing what I think you are describing, then that is a Predecessor in the castle. Schwartz must be using that to block Fumi-sama."

"Who?"

"Our Predecessor. She gives the Coral and Pearl Students, as well as one of the Five Columns such as myself, the ability to Materialize at will. She is our master."

"It seems unimaginative to use it purely as a jammer, but then again, there is very little in the West that can compete with the Otome."

"Brother Yuto," a voice came from behind the door. "I have just been asked to remind you that your Tests of Ascension are due to be held in three hours."

"Thanks to you, Brother."

"What are these tests?" Sara asked.

"The equivalent of graduation exams, but they are tailor-made to test only you. If I Ascend, I will most likely be sent outside of the city."

"Would you like me to leave so you can study?"

"It is okay, Sister Sara, one can never truly prepare in advance for these tests. The best you can do is calm yourself and make sure you are physically and mentally ready to face whatever challenges might fall on you. At least that is what Sister Sanae told me."

Later, Yuto stepped into the Chamber of Ascension, and like those before him, ascended to the circular platform. Sara was there with Takumi, Akira, Iori and the Cardinals, and they all saw him start hissing, with yellow crystal branches sprouting from every pore in his skin. The crystal expanded along his arms, along his legs, down his fingertips and toes, over his body, and even his face. His screams of pain increased, and a few tears fell from his eyes to the platform as the crystals firmly wrapped around him. Eventually, the crystals stopped growing, leaving him in a yellow body, with thickened forearms and legs, heavily spiked back and streamlined head.

"That looked exceedingly painful," Sara commented.

"It is," Takumi responded, as the amber lightning shot at the platform and created the sphere. "We reach deep inside our souls and awaken the power within our very DNA."

"DNA?! You tampered with your bodies' genetic makeup?"

"We were left with no other choice if we wanted to keep the Zerg from overrunning everything. Even then, we still lost Mizu no Kuni, and ever since then we have had to keep vigil over the east coast, especially Tetsu no Kuni."

"If you were that outmatched, why did you not contact Garderobe for help?"

"Would you have believed us?" Iori interjected. "Would you believe a country that has remained off the radar when suddenly it requests help against some possibly imaginary alien invaders?"

"In addition, we saw what your kind has done to the world," Akira hissed. "Otome help usually involves large amounts of petty politicking and much mass destruction, in that order. By the time you would have come to a consensus to help us, the Eastern Kingdoms would have been wiped out and the Zerg would have been knocking on your door."

"We were also very hard-pressed for time," Takumi continued. "Sending an emissary back and forth would have cost us time we couldn't afford to waste. We only just managed to hold the Zerg back long enough for our defenses to finish construction."

The amber orb rose to the midpoint in its journey. "Is he going to be okay?" Sara continued.

"We have yet to find someone who fails the Tests of Ascension,"

"I mean, will Iseyada-kun be able to walk away from here intact?"

"I think so; the Ascended usually have enough mastery of their abilities to be able to use them well."

"What about mentally? Will he be okay? When we talked, I saw a very low level of self-confidence."

"I think he should be. He has always seemed sure of himself when he was working, but only seeming at odds when seeing people. But come to think of it... Funabashi-san was feeling unstable when she heard about the Windbloom refugees."

"What caused her to feel that way?"

"She is one of the refugees from Mizu no Kuni. She had to abandon her home to the Zerg, and I think the horror of that reality of being a refugee got to her when she heard of the displacement of the Windbloom refugees. She's gone with Hikaru-san and Katsurou-san to help them, but they are ready to evacuate her at a moment's notice."

"I'm worried that Iseyada-kun is going through something similar. I would recommend that he be kept away from the battlefield until I can train him a bit. If his assessment about his own combat skills is accurate, they may be in need of improvement."

"Do you doubt his abilities?" the Cardinals questioned.

"No, Your Eminence, I doubt his confidence. If you have a fear holding you back, it won't matter what is within your power to do, as that fear will block you from doing it. I see some form of that fear in him."

"If it should have such an impact that he will be slowed down, he will not make it past the second test. We will just have to wait and see."

"What if he fails one of the tests?"

"Then the platform will return to its rest position. For now, watch."

The Amber Orb remained in its halfway point for a while... and then it rose to the top. For the next while, the Cardinals, Takumi, Iori, Akira and Sara watched in silence, and waited for what would happen next. He was so close...

The orb broke, revealing Yuto with a smooth yellow body, and shattered crystal fragments surrounding him. He looked up, and with more hisses of pain his skin returned to its original composition, revealing his yellow clothes and blue/grey hair. Seeing the Cardinals at the highest point of the new staircase where he found himself, he climbed the stairs and kneeled in front

"Brother Iseyada Yuto," the Cardinals spoke, "…thou hast triumphed in the Sacred Trials and proven thyself worthy of Ascension! Thou hast proven that thy is ready to not merely walk, but stride on the Amber-Inlaid Path!" The compartment on their throne opened, after which they took Yuto's Amber Tear Necklace and fitted it with two more tears, increasing the number to five before placing it back on him. "Now rise, Iseyada Yuto, Ascended Brother of the Amber-Inlaid Path."

Yuto stood up, his five-teared Amber Tear Necklace shining, and before descending back to the chamber floor, he was told that he would be moving into a Haven in the Magisterium. When returning to the chamber entrance, he saw Sara waiting outside, whereupon she asked "Are you okay?"

"I guess I am," he responded. "Some of the tests... were a lot more difficult than I had anticipated... but I made it through in the end."

"You don't sound so happy."

"I just hope... I'll be useful..."

"What do you mean 'useful'?"

"Despite my Ascension, every time I feel a weapon in my hand or an opponent to face, I'm always reminded of my weakness, and it drains away at my spirit. Those memories of my childhood and those Gladius legionaries, with everyone else abandoning me. It brings back just how poorly equipped I am to fight toe-to-toe."

"Didn't your Legion give you training, or the Brotherhood?"

"All Legions receive combat training, but the Castra legionaries receive the least amount due to pursuits of knowledge as opposed to power. As a result, we are generally considered to be the weakest of the three Scion Legions in terms of fighting ability, and when I joined the Legion, I chose to forego the training in favor of academic study. It didn't feel like fighting was in my blood, and as a result, I was considered to be the weakest of the whole Legion."

"What of the Brotherhood?"

"Much of their study is focused on meditation to enhance your connection with your true self, and while there are lessons in combat, they are mostly based on theory considering how no to Brothers are the same. Besides, the teachers in my earlier childhood having attempted to drill combat into me only made me detest it even more."

"Maybe that's what we can work on?"

"Sister Sara?"

"If what I heard was correct, then trying to learn how to fight was done in an abusive context, which is why you don't like it. Maybe, if you want while I'm here, I could give you a few private lessons."

"Are you sure that would work?"

"Well, it's worth a try. Don't worry, I'm not really a harsh instructor, so you won't need to worry about me judging you."

"Is that... okay with you?"

"Should be, while I'm here at least."

"Can I ask something of you?"

"What is it, Iseyada-kun"

"When you leave Scion, can I come with you? I want to see the outside world."

"It's fine with me, but you may want to ask Takumi no Kami-sama."

"Talk to me about what?" Takumi spoke from behind Yuto.

"Can Iseyada-kun come with us for a time?"

"It just so happens we came from the Cardinals, and Their Eminence has seen fit to grant him some shore leave. I've got a Frumentarius communicator to give to him in case of emergency, but they have allowed him some time to come with us and see Zipang. I remember him especially wanting to see the Kori no Kuni communities."

"But will his Legion allow it?"

"You needn't worry, Sister Sara," Yuto interjected. "If the Castra Legion was concerned about what I was up to, the Centurions would have pulled me away from the Brotherhood by now."

"And the others?"

"The Gladius Legion couldn't care less about me due to my preferred occupation, and the Frumentarii most likely have better things to do than monitor someone as heretical and unloved as me. Nobody will know I've left Scion aside from the Cardinals."

"In that case, you're probably all set."

"It just so happens we need to stop by Kori no Kuni's villages, so you can come with us," Takumi revealed, as they walked to the Seminary starport.


End file.
